NORFOLK

Erik Saar couldn't wait to get to Guantanamo Bay in 2002.

The Army sergeant, fluent in Arabic and working as an intelligence analyst, volunteered for duty at Joint Task Force Guantanamo so he could play a bigger part in the "War on Terror."

He spent six months there as an interpreter, sitting in on interrogations of terrorism suspects. Saar left convinced that the way Guantanamo was run was a moral failure that helped radical Islamic groups recruit more young men to their cause.

Saar will speak in Norfolk tonight as part of a forum titled "Security and Humanity: Keeping America Safe and Safeguarding American Values." It's sponsored by the National Security Network, which describes itself as a progressive organization seeking to "revitalize national security policy."

"What I saw was not just a betrayal of American values but also Army values that are taught and stressed throughout an Army career - things like honor and loyalty," Saar said in a phone interview.

He described seeing female interrogators use sexual techniques to entice detainees in an attempt to make them question their faith. He talked about the unrestricted use of dogs and an air of permissiveness paired with ambiguity that allowed senior leaders to plead ignorance when faced with allegations of abuse.

"We were told within weeks of getting there that the Geneva Conventions don't apply," Saar said.

"The concern wasn't just that they didn't apply, but now that you don't have those guidelines, then what are the new guidelines - which, by the way, we weren't trained on?"

Saar left the Army in 2004. In 2005, he wrote a book about his experiences, called "Inside the Wire: A Military Intelligence Soldier's Eyewitness Account of Life at Guantanamo."

"It's not just that what we were doing was wrong, but was completely ineffective," he said. "That's something that often gets lost."

He said the intelligence gathered through such means often was worthless.

In his current job, Saar studies how terrorist groups market themselves to young men. Many capitalize on the mistreatment of Guantanamo detainees and Iraqi prisoners held by U.S. forces at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, he said.

Joining Saar will be retired Army Brig. Gen. James Cullen. Cullen, who retired in 1996, last served as chief judge of the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals.

Cullen said intelligence dries up when word of abuse spreads.

"Once they feel that you have tortured people, sexually humiliated them, mistreated the symbols of religion, those people will not come to you," he said.

"You've lost a very important source."

Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com