Zubaydah Media Myths

Flopping Aces ^ | 08-26-16 | Wordsmith

[Starman417]

Zubaydah, characterized as "the poster child" and "guinea pig" for the CIA Interrogation Program, made his first public appearance on Tuesday before a GITMO parole board:

The hearing is part of the Periodic Review Board, which the Department of Defense describes as "an interagency process designed to review whether continued detention of Guantanamo detainees is necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States." "He has come to believe that he might have a chance to leave Guantanamo through this process," a representative for Zubaydah said at the hearing.

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Zubaydah did not speak during the public portion of the review board, but his representative said, "He has no desire or intent to harm the United States or any other country, and he has repeatedly said that the Islamic State is out of control and has gone too far."

ABC News is typical of most media accounts:

Mistakenly believed to have been one of the top officials in al-Qaeda, Zubaydah, 45, whose real name is Zayn al-Ibidin Muhammed Husay, was waterboarded 83 times and endured several other enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA in its secret detention program. It was later determined that U.S. intelligence overstated Zubaydah’s role in al-Qaeda.

Zubaydah, who thanked his interrogators for it, was not waterboarded 83 times. Yet this distorted claim to this day, is parroted throughout media.

And so it goes. One media report after another, perpetuating the idea that Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times; that he was either anywhere from a low-level operative to not a terrorist at all; but another GITMO innocent whose supposed Constitutional rights we've been violating by not charging him and giving him a trial. Or dismissing him altogether because he was "mistakenly" characterized at one point as a "number 3 man" in al Qaeda; or that since he was not "officially" al Qaeda, we wrongfully captured, rendered, and interrogated him. (Note: KSM was also not "officially" al Qaeda at the time of the 9/11 attacks, which he masterminded. He did not swear bayat until after he felt assured that the plots would be carried out. And according to Seth Jones' Hunting in the Shadows, Zubaydah made an initial request to join al Qaeda in 1993; and was rejected).

Excerpt back in 2009 from Ron Kessler's book, The Terrorist Watch (The citation from his book is a bit extensive and so I sought and received permission from the author):

[Robert A Cook PE]

But since when has Hillary’s pro-Muslim ABCNNBCBS press corpse CAIR’ed about the truth, honesty, or a non-biased reporting?