"My Tortured Decision" - FBI AGENT Speaks Out: 'NO Actionable Intell Gained From Torture'

[kpete]

Op-Ed Contributor
My Tortured Decision ALI SOUFAN
Published: April 22, 2009

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.


...................


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. The short sightedness behind the use of these techniques ignored the unreliability of the methods, the nature of the threat, the mentality and modus operandi of the terrorists, and due process.

more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/opinion/23soufan.html?_r=2&ref=opinion

[annabanana]

1. Puts the lie to the "Torture Works" crap that is STILL filling the airwaves..

Kick, kick, kick . .

They cannot get away with it.

[SamCooke]

2. I'm Watching that Morning Joe show, my god that guy is annoying

He reads every artlce defending torture, but doesn't read articles like this.

[malaise]

4. That's because what matters now is

covering their backs.

[malaise]

3. But but but

If you were torturing people to give you a bogus link between Iraq and Al Qaeda to save your own ass, then it never had anything to do with actionable intelligence.

If the sole goal of the men who stole the election was invading and occupying Iraq, then everything the war criminals did from November 2000 to January 2008 must be investigated.

[progressoid]

5. k/r

[barbtries]

6. i hope to see

more and more people pulling the gags out of their mouths and speaking up for justice.

[TorchTheWitch]

7. the more memos come out the more will speak out

Just as this FBI person said... "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."

Nobody who wanted to speak out could beause of the memos being classified. Once they're released, so is their obligation to keep silent. This is why Cheney is a dumb ass for agreeing to declassify more memos himself... once those get out, even more people will then be able to come forward when they haven't been able to before.

[Junkdrawer]

8. I think torture was used to stop people from talking and/or to obtain false confessions...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5503402&mesg_id=5503402

[glitch]

12. So do I.

That plus intimidating the populace. And because they enjoyed being able to do it, cuz they are psycho.

[Spazito]

9. The floodgates are beginning to open...

I have no doubt we will continue to see a number of people in "the know" speak out about their experiences which totally contradict what Cheney et al are saying.

[merh]

10. the Army Field Manual still has loopholes that must be closed

Appendix M of the Army Field Manual - a new section introduced in 2006, applicable only to "unlawful combatants," the category applied to detainees in Guantanamo, at secret CIA prisons, and elsewhere - allows the use of techniques such as prolonged isolation, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, and inducing fear and humiliation of prisoners. These techniques, especially when used in combination as permitted by the AFM, constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and in some cases, torture. These techniques have caused documented, long-lasting psychological and physical harm and were condemned by a bipartisan congressional report released last month, as well as by the Bush-appointed head of the military commissions at Guantanamo.

Much like John Yoo's infamous "torture memos" at the Office of Legal Counsel attempted to provide a legal cover for the authorization of torture by high-ranking Bush administration officials, the addition of Appendix M attempts to provide the same cover, utilizing the Army Field Manual. President Obama's executive order repudiates Yoo's memos - but it is not sufficient to do so without also repudiating this appendix, drafted in light of those memos.

The rewritten 2006 AFM also included other problematic changes - allowing U.S. interrogators to pretend to be from another country, or to pretend the prisoner is located in another country (including countries known for torture and abuse), and allowing interrogators to use "Fear Up," a procedure designed to psychologically exploit prisoners' existing fears - and supplemented to allow interrogators to induce "new fears" in prisoners.

President Obama's executive order created a task force that has six months to examine whether to create "additional or different guidance" for agencies such as the CIA, outside the U.S. military - a potential escape hatch for a return to CIA "enhanced interrogations" and torture.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5517838&mesg_id=5517838

[Poiuyt]

11. K&R

[Senator]

13. K&R