Warning to U.S. Troops on Hand-Held Lie Detector

An MNSBC report by Bill Dedman details a plan by the Pentagon to deploy a new, hand-held lie detector to be used to screen non-U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq for access to U.S. military facilities, as well as to screen suspects in attacks against U.S. forces:

http://truth.msnbc.com

But this new lie detector, formally dubbed the "Preliminary Credibility Assessment Screening System" or PCASS, is Emperor's-new-clothes technology, and it is foolhardy to place any reliance whatsoever on it.

In 2002, the National Academy of Sciences conducted a thorough review of the scientific evidence on the polygraph and concluded that "its accuracy in distinguishing actual or potential security violators from innocent test takers is insufficient to justify reliance on its use in employee security screening in federal agencies." The full report, titled "The Polygraph and Lie Detection," may be read on-line here:

http://www.nap.edu/books/0309084369/html/

The PCASS is the brainchild of the Defense Academy for Credibility Assessment (DACA), which conducted trials of its new device under unrealistic conditions that failed to consider the potential for countermeasures.

Unlike the Department of Defense, Al-Qaeda understands that lie detectors are junk science, as this passage from the Encyclopedia of Jihad makes clear:

http://antipolygraph.org/documents/al-qaeda-lie-detection.shtml

Islamist insurgents in Iraq also know that the lie detector is a sham, and have a good idea of how to fool it:

http://antipolygraph.org/documents/myth-of-the-lie-detector.shtml

The PCASS suffers from the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities as does conventional polygraph testing. For more in this regard, see "How to Beat the Preliminary Credibility Assessment Screening System (PCASS)":

https://antipolygraph.org/cgi-bin/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1207756058

U.S. forces should place no reliance on the results of this bogus test.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• polygraph
• lie
• detector
• credibility
• assessment
• pcass
• federal
• government
• nonprofit

[Aaron518]

I couldn't believe it was real when I saw the story,it's just so ridiculous.

[IntelArt]

Unfortunately the majority of these kids fighting the front lines are uneducated, know very little about world politics and religion other than western. Meanwhile Barack Hussein Obama & the majority of congressmen`s kids WILL NEVER fight these wars.

IMAGINE PEACE !

[worldtravel101]

i wouldnt rely on those damn things! too much controversy about the accuracy. not to mention most situation they are used for are about things very serious. i just cant trust something so controversial on such important matters!

[JuggaloClown36]

@IntelArt man i always thought it was bullshit that the rich people in our world can pay money to stay out of the war, put the poor men on the line, thanks obama

[1987Challenger3]

@mmacho73 its crap right. i told the truth the whole time and it said i lied about EVERYTHING...even my name

[secretbonus]

I wish they had (a reliable) lie detector in congress and the senate floors and in front of any politician any time they spoke. man watching Cspan may actually be fun if they did that. BEEP BEEP!!! LIER! Maybe we could throw half of the phonies out.

[IntelArt]

Besides American Airlines the police in Brazil Sao Paulo State more precisely is using this device already criticized by north amerrican scientists .

Wonder why Giuliani is down in Brazil consulting for some crime fixing dealing with one of the most corrupted police in the world and the most cruel criminals for 12 million bucks.

[lindasatx]

Our last few commander-in-chiefs have been ridiculous characters, We had a Playboy with sloppy play, an Elmer Fudd-like cartoon character with bad luck, and now we got an over hyped celebrity "Godhead" with secret Dr. Evil-like plans to turn us into a third world socialist dump. So it's no wonder our military leaders are stepping up and playing the game; pushing for "technological" means to justify their "racial profiling" or as I prefer to describe it: gut instinct. Atleast someone's got game.

[mmacho73]

The good ol' USA giving it's citizens and soliders another hand job. Lie detectors don't work. I took one for a civil service job and lied through out the entire test and PASSED.

[bmwsux4]

By the way how the hell do they measur all this stuff when the sensors are placed on top of the clothing and not benathe it. Somehow I think the clothing can interfere with it.

[bmwsux4]

Its 100% about the Heisenberg theory, in the fact that you observe something you change its outcome.

For example; if you are performing your job task at peak efficiency you will have NO problem. However if you have the POS bossman that constantly looks over your shoulder you are more likely to screw-up cause of the nervousness factors.

So YES; polygraphs are BS!