Posted on 04/23/2009 8:11:12 AM PDT by steve-b
For seven years I have remained silent about the false claims magnifying the effectiveness of the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding. I have spoken only in closed government hearings, as these matters were classified. But the release last week of four Justice Department memos on interrogations allows me to shed light on the story, and on some of the lessons to be learned.
One of the most striking parts of the memos is the false premises on which they are based. The first, dated August 2002, grants authorization to use harsh interrogation techniques on a high-ranking terrorist, Abu Zubaydah, on the grounds that previous methods hadn't been working. The next three memos cite the successes of those methods as a justification for their continued use.
It is inaccurate, however, to say that Abu Zubaydah had been uncooperative. Along with another F.B.I. agent, and with several C.I.A. officers present, I questioned him from March to June 2002, before the harsh techniques were introduced later in August. Under traditional interrogation methods, he provided us with important actionable intelligence.
We discovered, for example, that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Abu Zubaydah also told us about Jose Padilla, the so-called dirty bomber. This experience fit what I had found throughout my counterterrorism career: traditional interrogation techniques are successful in identifying operatives, uncovering plots and saving lives.
There was no actionable intelligence gained from using enhanced interrogation techniques on Abu Zubaydah that wasn't, or couldn't have been, gained from regular tactics. In addition, I saw that using these alternative methods on other terrorists backfired on more than a few occasions — all of which are still classified....
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Maybe you'll get the Pulitzer next!
Why would one place a barf alert on an expert analysis?
Hmmmmmm... .
al-Taqqiyah from the al-NYT. *spit*
BARF TSUNAMI HAPPENING IMMEDIATELY!!
Only the NEW YORK SLIMES can sink this LOW! The alleged author is obviously a Kenyan cousin of Obama’s applying for a job in the dministration:-)
This statement alone discredits the entire article.
The appearance of classified information in the mainstream media does not automatically declassify it.
Unless he has been explicitly notified that the information has been declassified, he is still bound by the non-disclosure requirements.
In other words, this is probably fiction.
Who is “Ali Soufan” and why should I believe a word he says in the notoriously dishonest New York Times?
Lets see they rate of jobs lost under zero hits a new record!
Oh look TORTURE !!!!!
Good thing you got this crap in before the remainder of the NYSlimes' last $37 million's gone.
Timing's sometimes everything, eh Ali?
Looks like Carville, Begala, and Emanuel are working the Rollodex and spending more of that Soros money.
All of steve-b’s postings are missing the barf alert.
He has a habit of posting the typical memes that the msm is trying to provide, complete with selective facts.
I’ve become so accustomed to it that when I see “steve-b” I automatically think “barf alert.”
I assume that he’s alluding to as much as he is allowed to say in public, a la Dick Cheney.
Seems like I saw a couple dozen news stories in recent days about how well the ‘Hate America Times’ are doing these days.......
/sarc
Says who? What makes this muzzie the end all and be all in effective interrogation techniques? But I guess it must be so, after all it's in the New York Times...right?
Yep, the DUmp would be a better fit.
One of the worst consequences of the use of these harsh techniques was that it reintroduced the so-called Chinese wall between the C.I.A. and F.B.I., similar to the communications obstacles that prevented us from working together to stop the 9/11 attacks.
“It is inaccurate, however, to say that Abu Zubaydah had been uncooperative. Along with another F.B.I. agent, and with several C.I.A. officers present, I questioned him from March to June 2002, before the harsh techniques were introduced later in August. Under traditional interrogation methods, he provided us with important actionable intelligence.
We discovered, for example, that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Abu Zubaydah also told us about Jose Padilla, the so-called dirty bomber. This experience fit what I had found throughout my counterterrorism career: traditional interrogation techniques are successful in identifying operatives, uncovering plots and saving lives.
There was no actionable intelligence gained from using enhanced interrogation techniques on Abu Zubaydah that wasn’t, or couldn’t have been, gained from regular tactics. In addition, I saw that using these alternative methods on other terrorists backfired on more than a few occasions — all of which are still classified....”
This discredits his article. Zubaydah gave info on KSM, but it was not until after he was water-boarded that he gave info that led the the ARREST of KSM.
Glad I could clear that up for the next person in line trying to make a million bucks off of the back of the Bush admin.
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