Posted on 12/10/2007 8:15:47 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
A leader of the CIA team that captured the first major al Qaeda figure, Abu Zubaydah, says subjecting him to waterboarding was torture but necessary.
In the first public comment by any CIA officer involved in handling high-value al Qaeda targets, John Kiriakou, now retired, said the technique broke Zubaydah in less than 35 seconds.
(Editor's Note for Video to the Left: Material from this video transcript may not be used without crediting ABC News in each instance of use. In all cases, use must be limited to one minute or less without the explicit permission of ABC News.)
"The next day, he told his interrogator that Allah had visited him in his cell during the night and told him to cooperate," said Kiriakou in an interview to be broadcast tonight on ABC News' "World News With Charles Gibson" and "Nightline."
"From that day on, he answered every question," Kiriakou said. "The threat information he provided disrupted a number of attacks, maybe dozens of attacks."
Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.
Kiriakou said the feeling in the months after the 9/11 attacks was that interrogators did not have the time to delve into the agency's bag of other interrogation tricks.
"Those tricks of the trade require a great deal of time -- much of the time -- and we didn't have that luxury. We were afraid that there was another major attack coming," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
True. We may as well go ‘whole hog’ on it—give ‘em something to actually get worked up over.
If left up to the traitor libs, the most we might expect is a ‘catch and release’ program, followed up with sending the bad guys a nasty letter.
The only part he’ll read is that it ‘was torture’, and he’ll forget any life that’s saved. That’s how it works in his mind...it doesn’t.
My understanding is that people walk away from “waterboarding” physically unharmed. That makes waterboarding “torture” the same way fingernails on a blackboard is “torture”, or the relentless din of blaring heavy-metal music is “torture”.
No, “torture” is having your fingers lopped off one at a time with a pair of wire cutters. “Torture” is having bleach poured into your forced-open eyes. “Torture” is having your kneecaps shot. “Torture” is having parts of your body blow-torched to black cinder two square inches at a time. “Torture” is having a pair of tree-branch loppers taken to your genitals....
There are countless ways to inflict real torture, and part of the torture is the realization by the victim that his body will be forever damaged, forever missing pieces. Forever. THAT’s torture.
“Waterboarding” may be a gruelling interrogation technique, but it is not “torture”. When a terrorist is returned to his cell following waterboarding, he is physically unharmed - - crapping his pants, maybe, but physically unharmed. Even some of our own special forces and intelligence operatives undergo waterboarding as part of their training.
It amazes me that the scumbag liberals and their allies in the dying, socialist “mainstream” newsrooms have been able to redefine “torture” in America’s lexicon. But what amazes me more is that the cowardly “conservative” politicians in Washington D.C. have let the liberals get away with it. Once again the liberals have been allowed to appropriate a word, and without a fight.
“Waterboarding is not torture. During SERE training, our boys and girls go through a lot worse than waterboarding.”
But we’re suppose to give them tv’s, and comforters and 40 virgins!?
But of coarse this all silly. Liberals don’t understand context.
CIA man defends 'water-boarding'
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John Kiriakou told US broadcaster ABC that "water-boarding" was used when his CIA team questioned suspected al-Qaeda chief recruiter Abu Zubaydah. He said it might be torture but that it "broke" the detainee in seconds. US authorities are investigating the CIA's destruction of tapes of al-Qaeda suspects being interrogated. Mr Kiriakou told ABC the day after water-boarding was used on Abu Zubaydah, the detainee told his interrogator Allah had visited him in his cell during the night and told him to cooperate. 'Principles compromised' "From that day on, he answered every question," the retired agent said.
"The threat information he provided disrupted a number of attacks, maybe dozens of attacks." But he added: "Like a lot of Americans, I'm involved in this internal, intellectual battle with myself weighing the idea that water-boarding may be torture versus the quality of information that we often get after using the water-boarding technique. And I struggle with it." He said he felt water-boarding's use had "compromised [American] principles in the short term" and was unsure the technique would be justified any longer. "At the time, I felt water-boarding was something we needed to do," he told ABC News. "And as time has passed, and as September 11th has, you know, has moved farther and farther back into history, I think I've changed my mind." The interview is said by ABC News to be first public comment by any CIA officer involved in handling top al-Qaeda suspects. Cover-up fears It comes as an official inquiry is launched into the CIA's destruction in 2005 of two videotapes showing interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects.
One of the detainees in the deleted footage, filmed in 2002, is understood to be Abu Zubaydah, the man referred to by Mr Kiriakou. The Palestinian was captured in Pakistan in 2002 and sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The CIA says it destroyed the tapes to protect the identity of its agents. But Democrats have accused the agency of a cover-up to hide evidence of possible detainee torture. The administration of US President George W Bush has always maintained it does not allow the use of torture. |
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So, we’re willing to not complain if our own captured soldiers are subjected to “waterboarding”? It is this that should be the measure of whether we are to condone the practice.
John Kiriakou, now retired, said the technique broke Zubaydah in less than 35 seconds... "The next day, he told his interrogator that Allah had visited him in his cell during the night and told him to cooperate," said Kiriakou... "From that day on, he answered every question," Kiriakou said. "The threat information he provided disrupted a number of attacks, maybe dozens of attacks."Wow, the perp was waterboarded for THIRTY FIVE SECONDS?!? This PROVES that Bush and his criminal gang are WORSE THAN HITLER AND THE SS!!! /sarc /rimshot
Can someone please succinctly describe waterboarding?
Nix prior request; I saw the description in post #46.
In his OPINION, waterboarding is torture, but he evidently doesn’t include the legal definition of torture while forming his OPINION.
Funny how the SAME people who want the VIDEO of the CIA AGENTS made PUBLIC are the smes ones that want Scooter in PRISON for just MENTIONING Valerie Plame’s NAME! HYPOCRITES!
I don’t care what this guys opinion is of what they had to do or what he thinks now, he needs to go to jail for even having this discussion with ABC. CIA agents have an obligation even after their departure not to discuss programs they may have been involved in or knew about.
Pelosi is really now a POS....
They Maim and Kill, We Pretend To Drown Them
****************************EXCERPT********************
ABC News has a bit of a bombshell interview with an ex-CIA agent who participated in the waterboarding of one of our captured terrorists, Abu Zubaydah. The discussion is frank and doesn’t insult the intelligence with simple platitudes and 1950’s morality. It covers the tough trades we have had to make when faced with possible attacks that could kill hundreds or thousands of innocent people:
*********************See article posted at the beginning of the thread************************
**********************snip**************************
It is not pleasant world out there due to some who foster an evil disregard for humanity and an obsession for power over others. Those who stand up to this evil do what they must, only because they must, only because the evil ones force us to do so to save lives. It is not the act, it is the intentions behind the act the determine whether it is morally valid. For example, it is what separates a surgeon from Jack The Ripper. I think what we, America, have done since 9-11 has been morally correct in all cases (individuals running Amok is not national policy or directions) and those who carried out the war on terror deserve to be saluted instead of used as political pawns.
I wonder if Hillary will waterboard FReepers.
Thank you for the ping; I agree with the writer entirely.
This issue sure is not going to go away anytime soon. I think for the most part the anti-water boarding side continue to miss the point that countries and terrorist organizations that might capture our military folks could give a damn about following the rules set forth in the Geneva Convention.
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