Posted on 12/07/2007 9:27:58 AM PST by Callahan
The prevailing assumption is that the tapes were destroyed to conceal harsh CIA interrogation methods. Gerald Posner suggests another possible explanation:
Re the breaking news that the CIA destroyed the videotapes of interrogations with 2 terror suspects, you might have seen that the tapes of the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah were destroyed.
You might also recall that in my 2003 NYT bestseller (reached #2), Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11, my last chapter was titled, "The Interrogation." Based on two active US intelligence sources, I was the first to disclose Zubaydah's interrogation. To date, I am the only reporter to have printed the info about what happened to him.
Zubaydah, wounded when he was captured in Pakistan, was fooled in a fake flag operation to believe that the Saudis held him. Instead of being afraid of the ‘Saudis,’ he demanded to talk to three Saudi princes (one, the nephew of the King, who happened to be in the U.S. on 9/11). He gave his interrogators the private cell phone numbers of all 3. He did the same regarding the chief of Pakistan's air force.
After the U.S. told the Saudis and Pakistanis of Zubaydah's finger pointing, all four men had tragic 'accidents.' The King's nephew died of complications from liposuction at the age of 43. A day later, the 41 year old Prince named by Zubaydah died in a one-car accident on his way to the funeral of the King’s nephew. The third named prince, age 25, died a week later of "thirst," according to the Saudi Royal Court. And shortly after that, the chief of Pakistan’s air force died when his plane exploded with his wife and 15 of his top aides on board
When my book was published, CIA officials trashed it 'off the record,' but made no public comment. I have always held the same position. There is (or was) firm evidence of what transpired, of whether my reporting was accurate or not. Make the interrogation tapes public and then we'll know whether one of the top al Qaeda operatives accused leading Saudi royals and a top Pakistani military man - now all dead - of being his sponsors. And accused two of them – the King’s nephew and the Pakistani air force chief – of having advance knowledge of the 9/11 attacks. Now, suddenly coincidence of coincidence, the CIA says the Zubaydah interrogation tapes are destroyed. How convenient.
Ping.
This is the Saudi prince who was the owner of War Emblem who won the Ky. Derby the same year. He supposedly died of a heart attack and shocked the people in racing who had known him. How many vigorous, healthy 43 yr. olds have you known who died of a heart attack?
They didn’t clean house, they cut out the weak links.
I remember this info well, thanks for the reminder and update.
The best part is the guy who died of ‘thirst’. He’s one terroist symp who would have loved to have been waterboarded.
It was on FR...I remember us commenting on it.
You remember this Frum piece?
I’m all for public disclosure and transparency but not when it comes to intelligence. If they hits those worthless pieces of trash than good riddance. It would be interesting to know whether our good friends the Saudis were cleaning house or covering their bases but that is something that will only be disclosed much later if at all.
save for reference
Late August publication explains why I missed it.
It depends. The Bush family has always had a close connection to the Saudis. I wondered after 9/11 how Bush would handle the problem.
One reason why I figured he went into Iraq early, rather than, say, Syria, was that he wanted to secure an assured oil supply before tackling the Saudis.
But as far as I can see, the Saudis are causing as much mischief as ever, and with complete impunity.
It was not in our national interest to confront them directly, until we had secured a base in the middle east and a backup source of oil, because if we invaded we would probably need a few years to rebuild the oil infrastructure. But it looks as if our further pursuit of those behind the terrorists has pretty much been abandoned, for the moment at least.
“One reason why I figured he went into Iraq early, rather than, say, Syria, was that he wanted to secure an assured oil supply before tackling the Saudis.”
I assumed the small amount of oil Iraq would put onto the market in any reasonable timeframe was secondary to having (multiple) land-based air bases and other logistic support near Iran (and syria), given that part of the deal of saudi support for invading iraq was leaving prince sultan air base and any others we had. I think the qatar air base was coming on line about this time too.
There is no government we (or they) can put in saudi arabia that will be any better for US interests than the one there already, unfortunately.
Well, unfortunately I’m not a State Department Arabist, but my plan for the Saudis back then was this:
Split them into two countries. One country with the oil, and a second, smaller country built around the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina.
Giving the same people control over the Islamic pilgrimage sites AND the largest supply of oil in the world is risky business, especially if they are Wahhabis who have been supporting Wahhabi fundamentalism all over the world and have enough money to spare to buy almost all of our politicians and diplomats, not to mention university departments of middle eastern studies.
“Giving the same people control over the Islamic pilgrimage sites AND the largest supply of oil in the world is risky business, especially if they are Wahhabis who have been supporting Wahhabi fundamentalism all over the world and have enough money to spare to buy almost all of our politicians and diplomats, not to mention university departments of middle eastern studies.”
Indeed, both our government and our major businesses and institutions are for sale, but they do have to bid against the Chinese....
Did anyone hear the sound bite today from the swimmer? He’s now comparing the destruction of these video tapes to the 18 1/2 minute gap in the Nixon White House tapes.
Hey, Teddy......What about the time lapse between the time you killed Mary Jo and when you finally notified the authorities??
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