Now this is fascinating. The false information on a connection between Saddam and Al Quada obtained from Sheik al Libi, used to bolster the war against Iraq, was obtained, yes, via torture.
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PR Newswire US
November 13, 2005 Sunday 4:04 PM GMT
LENGTH: 1717 words
HEADLINE: NEWSWEEK COVER: The Truth About Torture;
Senator Bond: 'Enhanced Interrogation Techniques' Worked to Stop a Plot by High-Level Al Qaeda Operative; CIA Official: 'Whatever Briefing They Got Probably Not Truthful'
DATELINE: NEW YORK Nov. 13
BODY:
NEW YORK, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Since 9/11, torture lite has been used by the Americans in the war on terror. The White House suggests the intelligence obtained has less to with people and plots and more to do with the structure of Al Qaeda. Because of "the program," as they somewhat spookily describe the CIA's "aggressive interrogation techniques," White House aides say that the United States has a much better idea how Al Qaeda operates around the world, writes Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas in the November 21 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, November 14). Details are hard to come by, but Sen. Kit Bond, a member of the Senate intelligence committee, told Newsweek that "enhanced interrogation techniques" worked with at least one high-level Qaeda operative, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, to thwart a plot. Bond would not say which one, but among foiled plots vaguely described by the White House and linked to "KSM" was a scheme to attack targets on the West Coast of the United States with hijacked airlines. The planning for such a "second wave" attack may have been in the early stages.
(Photo: newscom.com )
A career CIA official involved with interrogation policy cautioned Newsweek not to put too much credence in such claims. "Whatever briefing they got was probably not truthful," said the official, who did not wish to be identified discussing sensitive matters. "And there's no way of knowing whether what good information they got could not have been obtained by more traditional means," he says in this week's Newsweek torture cover package "The Truth About Torture." While many Americans probably don't wish to know too much about the "dark side" of intelligence gathering, the horrific images of tortured detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a terrible toll on America's standing in the world. "It's killing us. It's killing us," says Sen. John McCain of Arizona, whose Newsweek essay on the subject is part of the cover package.
The latest Newsweek Poll reports that 44 percent of the public thinks torture is often or sometimes justified as a way to obtain important information, while 51 percent say it is rarely or never justified. A clear majority -- 58 percent -- would support torture to thwart a terrorist attack, but asked if they would still support torture if that made it more likely enemies would use it against Americans, 57 percent said no. Some 73 percent agree that America's image abroad has been hurt by the torture allegations.
As a POW in Vietnam who had his arm broken and worse, McCain knows something about torture. His bill to ban "cruel, inhuman or degrading" interrogation techniques passed the Senate last month 90 to 9. But Cheney, with CIA Director Porter Goss in tow, has been lobbying against McCain. As written, the administration argues, the McCain legislation would tie the CIA's hands in the war on terror and potentially expose CIA operatives to prosecution at home and abroad. Compromises are possible. "There's a common desire to work this out," says the senior Bush aide. Torture lite -- and its bastard child, detainee abuse -- are coming out of the shadows into the political arena.
The story of the first "High Value Target" captured by U.S. intelligence illustrates some of the dilemmas and pitfalls of interrogating terrorists. When Ibn Al-Shaykh al-Libi, who helped run Qaeda training camps, was picked up in Afghanistan in November 2001, the questioning of detainees was still the province of the FBI. The CIA took al-Libi, strapped some duct tape over his mouth and put him on a plane to Egypt, where interrogations are a little rougher than down at FBI headquarters. Under questioning by the Egyptian authorities (techniques unknown, but not hard to imagine), al-Libi confessed that Al Qaeda terrorists, beginning in December 2000, had gone to Iraq to learn about chemical and biological weapons. This was just the evidence the Bush administration needed to make the case for invading Iraq and getting rid of Saddam Hussein. In his famous, now discredited speech to the United Nations in February 2003, the then Secretary of State Colin Powell cited the intelligence extracted from al-Libi, referring to him not by name but as a "senior Al Qaeda terrorist" who ran a training camp in Afghanistan. There was only one problem with al-Libi's story: after the Powell presentation, he recanted it. Overlooking timely doubts raised by some U.S. intelligence officials, particularly at the Defense Intelligence Agency, the ideologues in the Bush administration had used information obtained by torture to mislead the world.
Top agency officials under Goss are supporting their director, but further down the chain of command, there is uneasiness, if not downright resistance. As The Washington Post, Newsweek and others have reported, the CIA has at least a score of detainees tucked away in secret places it doesn't know how to dispose of without legal procedures. "Where's the off button?" says one retired CIA official who prefers to stay undercover. In the hands of President Bush -- if he is willing to openly face some tough choices. |
