Ex-CIA Agent In Hot Water For Going Public With U.S. Torture Practices
By Logan Murphy Friday Dec 21, 2007 8:38amCNN:
The CIA asked the Justice Department to investigate whether former operative John Kiriakou illegally disclosed classified information when he talked about the waterboarding of a terrorism suspect, government officials say.
That revelation has prompted new calls for investigations on Capitol Hill.
The Bush administration appeared in U.S. District Court on Friday to answer a judge's questions about the tapes' destruction.
Speaking to CNN last week, Kiriakou said that U.S. interrogators drew valuable information from al Qaeda captive Abu Zubayda by "waterboarding" him. But Kiriakou said the procedure amounts to torture and should be stopped. Read on...
Certainly took them long enough to come after Kiriakou. Whenever others have come out with information that is damaging to the administration, the smears start almost immediately. Larry Johnson points out that Kiriakou never actually witnessed waterboarding, but just a sweet face to make the idea that we've waterboarded palatable. So as that useful tool for the Bush administration, I don't know that anything will come of this investigation.
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They will try to punish the whistle-blower.
We can't let that happen.
frog march that faker. He catapulted the Clear Channel "torture makes us safe!" propaganda
"We don't torture".....right?
Hmmm, me thinks if this was a Bushie twat like George Tenet, there wouldn't be nearly as much of a broo-haha over this.
Like in big business, it'w who you know and not what you know that gets you far and saves your ass in life. Siggghhhhhh...
this guy didn't hurt the administration. he actually helped them by saying torture works. the guy is a plant and he won't actually get in trouble for doing what he was told to do by his superiors...come forward with this bogus story.
Maybe he is being used as an innoculation.
This is how it works - They send him out to lie about waterboarding. The stuff really happened, but he's lying about his involvement.
Then they expose his lies, proving that he wasn't involved. Then they can try to use him to discredit the stuff that really happened. It's called "poisoning the well."
Remember how they tried to discredit Joe Wilson by claiming he was lying when he said he was sent to Niger by Cheney? (Even though Wilson never said Cheney sent him, he said the CIA sent him because Cheney had questions) They couldn't disprove Wilson's findings, so they tried to cnfuse the issue.
If I'm correct, expect the nattering nabobs of negativism to jump on the "he wasn't there, therefore everything he said is untrue" meme when they get their talking points from Darth Cheney
Well a few days ago his testimony was being labelled as propagation by the WH to show that torture works.
What is it, CNL?
A good guy or a bad guy?
Faux News Opinion Poll 12-22-2007
Please vote:
What did Jesus mean when he said, “Turn the other cheek”?:
A. Slap the detainees so hard that their heads swivel like Saddam Hussein bobblehead dolls.
B. Use your good ear while illegally eavesdropping.
C. Be sure to get plenty of naked buttocks pictures of detained enemy combatants.
He should be punished, he lied about torture being effective.
Proud American Liberal @ 9:
Torture is effective. But only if you want confessions, not information.
People will say anything to stop the pain.
But, he was out there shilling for the virtues of the practices. These people will bitch about the rope they are hung with.
Lyndsay at Majikthise reports this is the same guy who contracted with the producers of The Kite Flyer, and whisked the movie's two child starts to safety in time for the movie to open in Afghanistan.
Doesn't it seem like the left is more likely to accept someone based solely on their moral fiber than is the right? I mean, time and time again I see individuals like Kiriakou applauded on sites like C&L for standing up to the White House. I have not idea what his politics are, but he could be a homophobic, Christianist, global warming denier and it wouldn't matter - he's on our side on this important issue. Contrast that to the right, which puts its heroes through all sort of litmus tests to determine ideological purity.
I don't know. Maybe I'm off on this one. Our side embraces Murtha, Gen. Casey, military bloggers and others that wouldn't be caught dead in an Act Up drum circle and no one cares. And we shouldn't. Welcome to the big tent. That's why we're going to win in 2008.
I still get the feeling that those tapes contained torture methods that are a lot worse than "waterboarding". If Kiriakou didn't actually see it conducted on the suspect then how can one claim that he disclosed classified information? How waterboarding is used and performed is well known to the general public. Even the terrorist suspects being held are well known. This sentence from the article did catch my attention though:
"Doing so will unlock a Pandora's box that will place a spotlight on the information in question as to the lawfulness of the alleged conduct and the activities of those involved." he said."
I think they are going after Kiriakou to ensure that no one follows up on those "activities" of those that were involved. This could indeed be a Pandora's box and they (especially the Bush Administration) wants to ensure that the lid stays on that box.
yur eether wit us er agin us...hehehehe.......c'mon ovur hear sun....I got a freedum medel fer ye.
what valuable intelligence? I can say a dog turd smells like a rose. Doesn't make it true.
this Kiriakou guys middle name should be kanard. Because I think that is exactly what he is. He didn't hit the news media the way he did just after the leak with interview answers defending waterboarding without a blessing from someone on high.
ralph @ 15:
Agreed. Kiriakou said that "waterboarding" was used but was it? If he didn't actually witness it and was simply told that waterboarding was used on the suspect then how can anyone be sure? This whole thing is beginning to stink to high heaven. There is something here that just doesn't fit and it sounds to me like they are trying to cover something more sinister than waterboarding.
How come they're going after this guy when Novak and Armitage got a pass after exposing Valerie Plame??
Joe O. @ 17:
In other words, there was something on those tapes that they (I.E. CIA and Bush Administration) did not want anyone to see and they did not want any light to be shown on this subject either so they destroyed the evidence. I am convinced that there was something else on those tapes and "waterboarding" is not what they are worried about.
steambomb @ 16:
Agreed!!! This guy has been planted by the White House and now they're pretending that they need to investigate him. They all sitting around toasting one another, laughing their asses off because they think they've conned the gullible public once again. They make me want to vomit.
The Justice department will open this investigation real quick while the woman who was raped by Halliburton/KBR has waited for over two years I think.
Bloggers are smart enough to see through this, and it's refreshing to see that many of us are catching on - the decoy is out there and it is waterboarding. The idea is to make everyone think only of waterboarding when torture is mentioned. In all likelihood, (Remember Enhanced Interrogation Technique"s") there are more heinous torture methods being used, but if the perpetrators can get waterboarding foremost in the mind of the public, no one will bother to look into the possibility of other, and probably far worse things. They can even argue whether waterboarding is torture or not; but remember not to take the bait - the investigations need to deal with ALL of their methods. There was at least one instance where an Iraqi general was suffocated to death in a sleeping bag. And what about the electrical wires on the prisoner in Abu Ghraib? Don't sucker for the waterboard stuff exclusively - this is what they want.
Kiriakou's tale seemed a little odd to me. But, the point here is if this guy is going to be investigated/prosecuted for illegally disclosing classified info, then I'm sure we'll see Cheney, Armitage et al being held to account for exposing Valerie Plame's covert status. Right!!
Quick! An Executive Branch employee went on the record about something troubling!!! GET HIM!!!
Oh, how are those investigations of contractor behavior in Iraq going? Any more rape victims being held in shipping containers for their own good?
[Quit spamming the threads with the same off topic message. Thank you-Sitemonitor]
sudnurge @ 22:
I think you nailed it. The torture tapes are destroyed, and this guy pops up and says they waterboarded Zubaydah for about 35 seconds and he spilled valuable information like candy from a busted pinata. By demanding an investigation, the Busheviks give him more credibility.
And we never see what really happened and the victims never get to talk to the media.
if convicted, all he'll have to do is plead libby.
I think this is all staged - pure theater. Going after him now is also theater. Questions were raised about why he was able to say what he said, so they are going after him. The proof is in following this story and seeing where it ends. Nothing will happen to this guy. People will get bored with this story before it goes anywhere and won't notice when nothing happens to him. I am positive he will NEVER see a day in jail.
His story was meant to creat a cover for the CIA. Yes we tortured, but it saved lives... Softened up the lines surrounding torture and helped out the CIA. Why is it okay to talk about the CIA or let out little tidbits when it helps make the CIA or the administration look better, or helps their cause..?
Its theater.
myiq2xu @ 6:
I was just about to point out the same thing and I'm glad you beat me to it. Good post.
The greatest blunder statement of all time?...........not MISSION ACCOMPLISHED...but
'Impeachment is off the table'.....you'll live to woe the day you said that, lady.
Leave him alone!
Leave Mo Rocca alone!
[Deleted. Off topic-Sitemonitor]
So let me get this straight...talking about torture is a crime - committing torture is not a crime...oh man....this has got to be my brain on drugs...becuase it don't make no sense!
What I find interesting is that when the CIA destroyed the waterboarding tapes, the Justice Department said there was nothing worth investigating. Now that this guy's stepped forward and said the CIA waterboards, the CIA asks the Justice Department to investigate. You know this investigation is going to happen.
There will no longer be justice in this country because the system is so fundamentally broken, and openly broken, visibly broken, that nobody could ever really expect to receive a "fair" trial.
Jeebus this whole thing just reeks last last week's garbage.
Nevertheless, it has been largely successful. The general population is so overloaded from all the bullshit that 99% can no longer even follow the excremental trail left behind by this administration.
IOW: Mission accomplished.
I meant LIKE last week's garbage.
jr @ 2:
I agree. The only clear message from his interview was that torture works.
Hang in there, Kiriakou, hot water ain't too bad. It's when they crank it up to boiling, throw one electrode in it, and clamp the other to your left testicle, that you should start to worry.
Anything you'd like to confess?
If he takes his glasses off you'll see that he is really superman.
C'Mon, Kiriakou, before we turn the burners to 'high', tell us the truth.
Are you really a triple-agent, working for the bin Laden/Olmert/Halliburton group (To amass some cash), while fronting for the Christian Right (which would explain your 'Torture' obsession), and faking allegiance to the US (like the rest of the Bush administration)?
Larry Johnson points out that Kiriakou never actually witnessed waterboarding, but just a sweet face to make the idea that we’ve waterboarded palatable.
Well, it ain't working.
nwmuse @ 28:
I absolutely agree. Well said.
Just another rat deserting the sinking ship. He just wanted to get off before the crush.
If he was so disturbed by it, why did it take this long to say anything?
I was wondering how long it would take for this to happen. I remember watching this guys interviews and thinking to myself that it would be a matter of days before they came down on him. Took them a little longer then I thought, but was not surprised at all. They are a regime, this guy crossed them, this is what happens.
JOD, yeah, this is the CIA. We would like you to do something to make it look like John Kiriakou actually worked for us as an interrogator. ... Um, I dunno, how bout an investigation. ... I don't know what for, try something like breach of national security. ... I know we wrote the interview. ... I know it was done very badly ... Well this would really help us make it look real. ... Yes, the dark lord asked for it. ... Thanks.
Color me confused. I was under the impression that we don't do torture.
Well that's the last time I will ever listen to George W. Bush.
Hmm. I saw this guy in another interview when the story first broke.
And I don't trust him. I know, I know. I don't usually reach for the tinfoil. And it is my subjective "gut feeling". But why they picked this guy is beyond me. He had a lot of tells going on in that first clip (wish I could remember where that was). There is something very dishonest in his presentation.
We'll see how this plays out, but I sure wouldn't turn my back on this particular "whistle-blower". They had a "guard at Gitmo" (a lady, to better sympathize with, of course) write a letter to NPR as well, with a bunch of thinly-veiled propaganda about how things were nifty there, the all the people there really were terrible beyond any hope, and she found redemption and is a good person, etc., etc. All completely anonymous and free of meaningful detail, of course.
Apparently there was money in the budget for American domestic psy-ops. (Golly, I thought they weren't supposed to do that. 'Course, when has that ever mattered?) So just have a few grains of salt at hand in this coming year, that's all I'm sayin'...
Like Joementum @ 31, I thought it was Mo Rocca. But that might just be one of those espinoge tricks CIA agents learn.
Torture? The biggest outrage is that it comes as no surprise.
myiq2xu @ 10:
Thus making it ineffective.
Proud American Liberal @ 49:
Unless the effect you desire is for them to cry, "YES!!! OK, STOP! I'll say it, 'I'm a witch', just please don't cut off any more body parts and force me to eat them!"
Seemed to work for the Catholics and early Puritans here in the U.S. anyway... then after the confession you can have a good ol' fashioned lynching! Truth? Who needs truth? That just gets in the way of the entertainment!
Eventually we can skip the torture part altogether, and just burn them alive. If they aren't terrorists/commies/homos God will save them and they'll be unaffected by the flames. If they burn it's because God hated them anyway. Simple... that seem to be where this line of thought always ends up, anyway.
This guy reminds me of "Doctor" Cynamoun from those snake oil diet pill commercials. The phony earnestness is the part that really make it all so slimy. I hope he gets collared for this.
two words lawyer up
Is it me, or is this guy a dead ringer for Mo Rocca?
I hear he will be sentenced to one freedom medallion if convicted.
I hope the first act of the next president, taken instantly following the swearing in, is to rejoin the ICC and order the arrest and extradition of all these war criminals, starting with Bush and moving down the hieracchy, to the Hague.
War criminals.
Please, I hope they do go after Kiriakou.
Because they will lose completely, and show those watching what jack-booted goons they are.
It is going to be wonderful to get this crazy bastard out of the white house, so that we can get real honest, truthful information out of everyone involved in this American mess.
I am so tired of all of this crap, I could just scream
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