Detainee's Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots

[cal04]

Source: Washington Post

Abu Zubaida Was a Low-Level Player Whose Interrogation Produced False Leads, Officials Say
When CIA officials subjected their first high-value captive, Abu Zubaida, to waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, they were convinced that they had in their custody an al-Qaeda leader who knew details of operations yet to be unleashed, and they were facing increasing pressure from the White House to get those secrets out of him.

The methods succeeded in breaking him, and the stories he told of al-Qaeda terrorism plots sent CIA officers around the globe chasing leads.

In the end, though, not a single significant plot was foiled as a result of Abu Zubaida's tortured confessions, according to former senior government officials who closely followed the interrogations. Nearly all of the leads attained through the harsh measures quickly evaporated, while most of the useful information from Abu Zubaida -- chiefly names of al-Qaeda members and associates -- was obtained before waterboarding was introduced, they said.

Moreover, within weeks of his capture, U.S. officials had gained evidence that made clear they had misjudged Abu Zubaida. President George W. Bush had publicly described him as "al-Qaeda's chief of operations," and other top officials called him a "trusted associate" of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a major figure in the planning of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. None of that was accurate, the new evidence showed.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/28/AR2009032802066.html?hpid=topnews

[Solly Mack]

1. Cowards too afraid to call it what it is - Torture.

The guilty, the complicit, and the cowardly

[jody]

2. But, if through torture we prevent just one terrorist attack, all the millions of people we torture

and kill would not have died in vain. :sarcasm:

[Supersedeas]

13. that seems to be the rational, innocent people must suffer to get some potential leads

[Idealism]

3. Long article, but definitely worth it. This paragraph tells it all:

Others in the U.S. government, including CIA officials, fear the consequences of taking a man into court who was waterboarded on largely false assumptions, because of the prospect of interrogation methods being revealed in detail and because of the chance of an acquittal that might set a legal precedent. Instead, they would prefer to send him to Jordan.

Rather us face justice and embarrassment for the crimes we have committed, lets extradite this poor bastard to Jordan to be tortured further and held permanently in detention, if not killed. This is the American version of South America's "disappearances." Despicable.

[mix]

4. KUBARK

The techniques used by the CIA were designed originally to produce propaganda, i.e. confessions, for Stalinist states like Russian and North Korea. They had zero value in acquiring intelligence.

Check out this excellent documentary, Torturing Democracy...it shows how torture was institutionalized after 9/11 and the rebellion of JAG officers and other military lawyers who opposed the policy...you can stream it:

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/torturingdemocracy/

Bagram needs to be shut down.

[troubleinwinter]

7. I watched the entire documentary tonite.

Very difficult to do, but felt that I must. I have no words... only tears, anger and revulsion. And resolution that war crime trials are imperative.

Thank you for posting it.

[mix]

8. it is quite a story

shocking

[Judi Lynn]

14. Thanks for posting this documentary link, mix. Watching it now. n/t

[mix]

15. i would say 'enjoy', but that's not really appropriate n/t

[daleo]

5. So torture didn't work

Like most of us figured, it just led to wild goose chases.

[Piewhacket]

6. War Crimes. Hang them all.

[The abyss]

9. Hey – I’m sure they got their rocks off

<>

so much fun going on here!

I’m so proud! Aren’t you??

Edit to add: My comment is in no way aimed at the original poster. It is a general comment pointed at what this nation now stands for.

[gratuitous]

10. Thank goodness, none of this is important

And we shouldn't be wasting precious time and government resources on exposing these crimes against humanity. Timmy'sThe financial sector's in trouble? Fallen down a wellon their own crooked policies? Well, we can't do anything about this torture and fracturing of our Constitution, the very foundation of our country now! We have to make sure overrich greedheads keep getting tons of Treasury money or some of them might be unhappy!

[LynnTheDem]

11. But it sure did wonders for breaking America's reputation and recruiting

for al Qaida.

Heck of a job, bUshies.

[underpants]

12. They didn't know what they were doing

they, Bush&Co., just went with the first thing that came to mind. Totally overreacted and misdirected resources from where they should have gone.

in the cloud after 9/11 there was a level of assumption that they had to be doing the right thing regardless of how much we (ME) didn't trust them to begin with. We are slowly finding out that that period was like everything they did- unplanned, undermanned, overfunded, completely failed on all accounts of every-single-thing