Tuesday, December 11, 2007

CIA story from ABC News


You have probably already heard about this story from ABC News. According to the report, John Kiriakou, the CIA officer whose team captured Al Qaeda Chief Abu Zubaydah, said his team subjected Zubaydah to waterboarding, and that the technique "broke" the terror leader in "less than 35 seconds." He said said he believes waterboarding is torture, but said the need for intelligence that would help prevent future attacks justified the technique.
"The threat information he provided disrupted a number of attacks, maybe dozens of attacks," Kiriakou said of the information Zubaydah provided.
"What happens if we don't waterboard a person, and we don't get that nugget of information, and there's an attack," Kiriakou said. "I would have trouble forgiving myself."
The CIA secretly recorded the interrogation of Zubaydah, then destroyed the tapes. Kiriakou told ABC he had no idea that the CIA was taping the session, or that the tape had been destroyed."
I have no problem with members of the CIA subjecting terrorists to waterboarding in order to prevent the deaths of innocent people. But to me, the most disturbing portion of the story is the following: "In that context, at that time, Kiriakou says he felt waterboarding was something the United States needed to do.
"At the time, I felt that waterboarding was something that we needed to do. 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," he told ABC News."
I knew we would get to a point after 9/11 in which we would fall back into the ways that we thought prior to the attacks. As time progresses, we change our minds until there is another attack. And then we start the process all over again when we ask ourselves why we didn't connect the dots...

4 comments:

victormisrock said...

Here is a video that’s been cut with AUTHENTIC waterboarding footage — perhaps some of it leaked from the CIA?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GcXl1y_mQw

-vm

The All Seeing Eye said...

Thanks for the video clip link, Victormisrock. The so-called military dude needs a shave. And the waterboarding is done my CIA members...

Thomas Hampton said...

Victor Misrock is a phony! I have the original source of his footage, which is authentic, aside from the humourous "reenactment" interview.

If waterboarding is done properly, it is absolutely an effective interrogation technique.

Here is the authentic training video -- believed to have been leaked by the military, or the agency:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEejbqfHs80

Follow closely.

The All Seeing Eye said...

Thanks for the comment, Thomas Hampton. I don't see waterboarding to a terrorist as a violation of any rights. If you know that a captured subject has knowledge of a school full schildren is about to be blown up, then I have no problems with the terrorist being waterboarded by someone who is properly trained. If you don't do it, then what the heck do you tell the parent of the chlidren that get killed?...