FM 2 - 22 . 3 Human Intelligence Collector Operations Army Field Manual 2 22 . 3 , or FM 2 - 22 . 3 , Human Intelligence Collector Operations , was issued by the Department of the Army on September 6 , 2006 . The manual gives instructions on a range of issues , such as the structure , planning and management of human intelligence operations , the debriefing of soldiers , and the analysis of known relationships and map data . The largest and most newsworthy section of the document details procedures for the screening and interrogation of prisoners of war and unlawful combatants . Political issues . Drafting of the manual reflected concerns about enhanced interrogation techniques and / or torture , such as water boarding , that followed after a 2003 memo by John Yoo determined that the wartime authority of the U . S . president overrode international agreements against torture . Revision of the manual from the previous FM 34 - 52 Intelligence Interrogation followed passage of a law in 2005 , pressed by Senator John McCain , that caused interrogation techniques not included in the manual to be considered illegal for the U . S . Army , but not for the CIA . Therefore , the release of the manual was seen to prohibit Army personnel from methods such as mock execution s , sexual humiliation , hooding prisoners and " waterboarding " . On March 8 , 2008 president George W . Bush vetoed a bill , supported by Democrats and opposed by John McCain , which would have restricted the CIA to the techniques in the manual . Disputes during the manual ' s preparation included whether a section on interrogation techniques would remain classified , and whether the Geneva conventions ban on " humiliating and degrading treatment " would be removed . , issued by Barack Obama on January 22 , 2009 ( two days after Obama ' s inauguration ) revoked of July 20 , 2007 . It restricted the CIA and other Executive Agencies to proceed with interrogations " strictly in accord with the principles , processes , conditions , and limitations [ Army Field Manual 2 22 . 3 ] prescribes " . Persons associated with the U . S . government were advised that they could rely on the manual , but could not rely upon " any interpretation of the law governing interrogation - - including interpretations of Federal criminal laws , the Convention Against Torture , Common Article 3 , Army Field Manual 2 22 . 3 , and its predecessor document , Army Field Manual 34 52 issued by the Department of Justice between September 11 , 2001 , and January 20 , 2009 . " This order restricted the CIA and all other U . S . personnel to the same rules that the military uses in interrogations . Newsweek described the impact of this and three other executive orders issued shortly after Obama ' s inauguration as " " The End of Torture " " , calling Obama ' s decision to restrict the CIA to the Army Field Manual " " his most far - reaching and potentially controversial move " " among these , and the subject of internal debate among Obama advisors . Others expressed doubt about the policies , citing that in six months an interagency commission , headed by the U . S . Attorney General , may recommend " additional or different guidance " for non - military agencies such as the CIA . The Center for Constitutional Rights , one group that represents detainees , termed the commission an " escape hatch " for returning to previous practices . The Wall Street Journal termed this the " " Jack Bauer exception " " , saying that Obama was drawing a line where none really existed , citing that Bush officials have stated that they used water boarding only against three top al - Qaida officials in 2003 , and saying that the real effect was that CIA interrogators were purchasing legal insurance . Interrogation methods . The manual permits nineteen interrogation techniques , Described in Chapter 8 of the manual as " approach techniques " to help establish a rapport , these are :