Posted on 12/12/2007 6:37:32 AM PST by UKrepublican
'Waterboarding broke al Qaeda captive in 35 seconds,' says former CIA agent defending torture
Use of the interrogation technique known as "waterboarding" was approved by the White House and gets results, a former CIA agent admitted yesterday.
The technique - which simulates drowning - was used against Al Qaeda captives with success, John Kiriakou told a U.S. TV network.
The one-time CIA interrogator is the first to speak out about the "torture" methods that have earned President George Bush's administration worldwide condemnation.
The White House has denied torture is used on terror suspects, but Mr Kiriakou said waterboarding "broke" one stubbornly silent Al Qaeda recruiter after just 35 seconds.
Waterboarding involves wrapping plastic or fabric around a detainee's face then pouring water over the top until it is forced up the nose and down the throat to simulate drowning.
Suspects are told they will die if they do not talk.
And although the technique is supposed to be low-risk, critics say it can result in long-lasting psychological damage, injury to the lungs and even, in extreme cases, death.
Mr Kiriakou told the ABC network that he had fought an "intellectual battle" in his mind over the use of waterboarding, and had concluded that it is justified as it saves lives by preventing terror attacks. "This isn't something done willy-nilly," he added. "This was a policy made at the White House, with concurrence from the National Security Council and Justice Department."
Mr Kiriakou told how waterboarding was used on Zayn Abu Zubaida, the first high-ranking Al Qaeda member captured after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Abu Zubaida was seized in a gun battle in Pakistan in the spring of 2002. For weeks he refused to talk and remained ideologically zealous, defiant and unco-operative. Then he was flown to a secret CIA prison - believed to be in Afghanistan - and strapped to a board with his feet in the air.
Cellophane was wrapped around the Al Qaeda man's face and water was forced up his nose and into his throat to make him think he was drowning.
The suspect lasted only 35 seconds before he broke.
"It was like flipping a switch," said Mr Kiriakou.
"From that day on, he answered every question. The threat information he provided disrupted a number of attacks, maybe dozens of attacks.
"Like a lot of Americans, I'm involved in this internal, intellectual battle with myself weighing the idea that waterboarding may be torture versus the quality of information that we often get.
"I struggle with it.
"At the time, I felt that waterboarding was something that we needed to do."
Mr Kiriakou said he did not interrogate Abu Zubaida, but learned the details from colleagues.
His account came as the U.S. Congress began questioning CIA director Michael Hayden yesterday about why the agency destroyed at least two videotapes of controversial interrogations.
Many senators believe it was done to hide evidence of illegal torture that could have been used against CIA agents in a war crimes tribunal.
General Hayden, speaking to the closed-doors Congress hearing yesterday was expected to say that CIA lawyers ruled that the interrogations were legal and the tapes were destroyed in 2005 to protect the identities of CIA employees who appear on them.
The torture scandal is likely to become a major issue in next year's presidential election.
Abu Zubaida - who says he was coerced into making false confessions - was eventually moved to the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he is now held in solitary confinement.
He is likely to be tried next year on terrorism charges and the CIA expects that he will spend the rest of his life in custody.
Mr Kiriakou, a 14-year veteran of the CIA who worked in both the analysis and operations divisions, left in 2004 and works as a consultant for a private Washington-based firm.
Yes use the Waterboarding technique gain information then kill them would be my method.
Utter disinformation.
Anderson also calls not getting the shower stall next to the hunky guy in the locker room torture.
We did not torture them. We did not cause them severe pain or injury. We put on a little drama to scare them into thinking they would be tortured if they didn't talk.
Water boarding was effective on these terrorists because they know that the US does not torture prisoners. They expected to be kept awake, forced to listen to bad music, and made to stand for long periods of time, but to not face any real threat of serious pain, injury, or death.
That's why it only took 35 seconds for him to crack. His interrogators didn't need to torture him, they just needed to make him think that we had abandoned our rules against torture and would torture him.
As for lasting psychological damage... anyone who would plan or take part in the murder of thousands of innocent people is already far more psychologically damaged than wander boarding could do, and it shouldn't be long term psychological damage anyway, because these murderous terrorists should be facing execution in relatively short order.
Technically, torture is physical harm rendered to the victim.
Waterboarding does not physically harm the person.
There are no bruises, scars, wounds inflicted when waterboarding.
I don’t see what the problem is.
Personally, I don’t care if you have to spoon their eyes out, just get the info if it means saving thousands to millions of lives.
I don’t have any problems with torturing terrorists. I think we should threaten ‘em with sex-change operations - threaten to send ‘em to Allah as women. And if they don’t talk - do it!
“Just like people defending Saddam’s gas chambers.”
And defending Saddam’s rape rooms, putting people to death in large shredders, shocking genitals. Bush and Cheney are the bad guys don’t you know.
I thought torture does not work, isn’t that what all teh dems have been saying? If this worked in 35 seconds, it can’t be torture...Right???
I bet they break so easy becasue they come from the desert and are totally unused to water.
It sounds like it would be good for the sinuses.
Who was the dim bulb that actually said Saddam had the right to because they were “his” people?
Hajji’s HATE the waterboard! The toughest person around usually breaks in a couple of minutes.
what the naysayers fail to realize is that even if the bad guy lies about intel to get the ‘torture’ to stop, the most important effectiveness is when you go back to him with his lie and do it again. He knows what’s coming.
Not to mention that AQ did not sign the Geneva Convention so they have to use the Democrats to protect them.
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Excellent.
“critics say it can result in long-lasting psychological damage”
They also say leaving these guys in Guantanamo leaves long lasting damage. Barking dogs, underwear on the head, serving chardoney above 49 degrees causes long lasting psychological damage.
They never mention that strapping a bomb to themselves causes long lasting psychological damage too.
Those who say let’s do evil so that good may come of it are justly condemned.
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