Followers | 80 |
Posts | 82226 |
Boards Moderated | 2 |
Alias Born | 12/26/2003 |
Monday, April 30, 2012 4:03:06 PM
Former CIA Official Seeking to Confirm Efficacy of Torture Does The Opposite
Former CIA Official Jose Rodriguez talks to CBS' 60 Minutes. CBS/60 Minutes
—By Adam Serwer
| Mon Apr. 30, 2012 8:12 AM PDT
Jose Rodriguez, the former head of the CIA's Clandestine Service during the Bush administration, was supposed to offer proof that the torture of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other Al Qaeda detainees led to the discovery of Osama bin Laden's hiding place. Instead, his interview with CBS reporter Leslie Stahl confirmed the exact opposite.
"I am certain, beyond any doubt, that these techniques, approved at the highest levels of the U.S. government, certified by the Department of Justice, and briefed to and supported by bipartisan leadership of congressional intelligence oversight committees, shielded the people of the United States from harm and led to the capture of killing of Osama bin Laden," Rodriguez told [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/former-cia-spy-boss-made-an-unhesitating-call-to-destroy-interrogation-tapes/2012/04/24/gIQAkdTXfT_print.html ] the Washington Post's Dana Priest in a piece inexplicably published in the paper's Style section early last week.
The debate over the efficacy of torture has been renewed by Rodriguez' recently published book and the Obama campaign's agressive effort to remind voters that bin Laden was found and killed under the current administration. Since bin Laden's death, Republicans have sought to reap credit for the raid by focusing on the torturous interrogation techniques Obama banned by executive order his first few days in office, claiming they led directly to the discovery of bin Laden's hideout. But the CIA's own inspector general found "you could not in good conscience reach a definitive conclusion about whether any specific technique was especially effective, or [whether] the enhanced techniques in the aggregate really worked."
Rodriguez' 60 Minutes interview doesn't do much to bolster the case of torture supporters. In fact, it actively undermines it. When Stahl confronted Rodriguez with the fact that KSM refused to divulge the identity of the courier who eventually led the CIA to bin Laden, Rodriguez confirmed what we already knew—that when asked about the identity of bin Laden's courier, KSM lied. [ http://www.cbsnews.com/2102-18560_162-57423533.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody ]
Rodriguez employed a number of other well-worn fallacies in his defense of torture:
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/04/former-cia-official-seeking-confirm-efficacy-torture-does-opposite?google_editors_picks=true
Former CIA Official Jose Rodriguez talks to CBS' 60 Minutes. CBS/60 Minutes
—By Adam Serwer
| Mon Apr. 30, 2012 8:12 AM PDT
Jose Rodriguez, the former head of the CIA's Clandestine Service during the Bush administration, was supposed to offer proof that the torture of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other Al Qaeda detainees led to the discovery of Osama bin Laden's hiding place. Instead, his interview with CBS reporter Leslie Stahl confirmed the exact opposite.
"I am certain, beyond any doubt, that these techniques, approved at the highest levels of the U.S. government, certified by the Department of Justice, and briefed to and supported by bipartisan leadership of congressional intelligence oversight committees, shielded the people of the United States from harm and led to the capture of killing of Osama bin Laden," Rodriguez told [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/former-cia-spy-boss-made-an-unhesitating-call-to-destroy-interrogation-tapes/2012/04/24/gIQAkdTXfT_print.html ] the Washington Post's Dana Priest in a piece inexplicably published in the paper's Style section early last week.
The debate over the efficacy of torture has been renewed by Rodriguez' recently published book and the Obama campaign's agressive effort to remind voters that bin Laden was found and killed under the current administration. Since bin Laden's death, Republicans have sought to reap credit for the raid by focusing on the torturous interrogation techniques Obama banned by executive order his first few days in office, claiming they led directly to the discovery of bin Laden's hideout. But the CIA's own inspector general found "you could not in good conscience reach a definitive conclusion about whether any specific technique was especially effective, or [whether] the enhanced techniques in the aggregate really worked."
Rodriguez' 60 Minutes interview doesn't do much to bolster the case of torture supporters. In fact, it actively undermines it. When Stahl confronted Rodriguez with the fact that KSM refused to divulge the identity of the courier who eventually led the CIA to bin Laden, Rodriguez confirmed what we already knew—that when asked about the identity of bin Laden's courier, KSM lied. [ http://www.cbsnews.com/2102-18560_162-57423533.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody ]
CBS has since posted more of the interview to its website, and the additional footage further erodes the notion that torture led to bin Laden's whereabouts. "We went to KSM and said 'What about this courier, [Abu Ahmed] al-Kuwaiti?' and he became very defensive, and he would not talk to us about it," Rodriguez says. "But later, we intercepted a message, that he was sending to the other detainees in which he said do not say a word about the courier. Which, to us meant this is important information."
Rodriguez employed a number of other well-worn fallacies in his defense of torture:
Although Rodriguez' didn't offer much in the way of new information during his interview with Stahl, he did introduce an inadvertently hilarious metaphor for the kind of tough guy rhetoric employed in defense of torture. When explaining to Stahl his request to use so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, Rodriguez said, "We needed everybody in government to put their big boy pants on and provide the authorities that we needed."
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/04/former-cia-official-seeking-confirm-efficacy-torture-does-opposite?google_editors_picks=true
Join the InvestorsHub Community
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.