"It is a routine act that the CIA undertakes even when they know no violation has occurred," said attorney Mark Zaid, who represents former CIA official John Kiriakou.
Zaid could legally argue that Kiriakou is a whistleblower and use the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to defend his client. No employer is allowed to break the law. CIA employees sign agreements not to release classified information. The Justice Department could argue Kiriakou endangered national security. The courts lean heavily towards the federal government on national security matters.
The question that bothers me is why did Kiriakou go public? He supports waterboarding. I heard some people theorize that the CIA put him out as an unofficial spokesman. I don't see how that helps the CIA or the White House. Maybe Kiriakou wants to bag a book deal. Anyone have any ideas why he went public?
CIA Director Michael Hayden confirms that the agency waterboarded detainees Khalid Sheik Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim Nashiri. Former CIA officer John Kiriakou told the media he supervised in the waterboarding of Abu Zabaydah. Kiriakou told MSNBC host Dan Abrams the White House was aware that Zabaydah was tortured. The CIA destroyed tapes of the detainees of being waterboarded.
Abrams: So do you believe the White House ultimately knew that he was being waterboared?
Kiriakou: Absolutely.
President Bush repeatly denied that the administration was torturing suspects. When pressed about waterboarding, Bush would say he didn't want the enemy to know about interrogation techniques. That is a disingenuous way of the President not giving a yes or no answer. Astronauts on the International Space Station are likely aware that the United States waterboards.
This is the same President whom Lewis "Scooter" Libby and Scott McClellan publicly stated was involved in the leaking and cover up of Valerie Plame's CIA covert status. Bush has no respect for classified information. He is hiding behind secrecy to protect himself from criminal prosecution.
Does anyone really believe Bush has the same difficulty understanding the meaning of waterboarding that Bill Clinton had with the word "is?" Politicians use the stupidity excuse when they are in legal trouble. I doubt Bush will be prosecuted for torture.
After all the deception, Hayden is pleading with Congress not to make a law forbidding waterboarding. The Director uses fearmongering to get his message across.
"One should not expect them to play outside the box because we've entered a new period of threat or danger to the nation, OK? So there's no wink and nod here," he said. "If you create the box, we will play inside the box without exception."
Terrorists aren't the only groups guilty of playing outside the box. The White House still hasn't come clean about secret prisons and the kidnapping of MaherArar. The Canadian citizen was taken to Syria by the CIA. The Syrian government tortured him. Maher was finally released by Syria and cleared by the Canadian government. Maher was abducted because he had a similar name to a person on the CIA's terrorist watchlist. The Bush administration refuses to comment on the Maher case. The reason is because it is (you guessed it) classified.
Lobbyists for Viacom helped the producers of the film retain retired CIA agent and "countererrorism expert", John Kiriakou, according an Oct 4 article in the International Herald Tribune--before Kirkakou went public about his career as a torturer.
Kirkakou was hired the help the production crew of the motion picture The Kite Runner. Kirkakou is familiar with the Afghanistan region. Below is two videos of Kirkakou discussing the destruction of the torture tapes and waterboarding of Abu Zabaydah.
Kiriakou tells Dan Abrams he is positive that the White House knew that Zabaydah was waterboarded.
So who did the CIA turn to for help with “enhanced interrogation”? It was either the military or former military working as contractors. Why? Because the military did train interrogators at Fort Huachuca and they were familiar with enhanced interrogation methods, including waterboarding.
My money is on contractors. The Military does not want to be involved in interrogations after Abu Ghraib. Contractors are not under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
