'We Don't Torture' Is A Myth

The C.I.A. waterboarded Abu Zubaydah a minimum of 83 times in August of 2002. Khalid Sheik Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times in March 2003. Firedoglake blogger Marcy Wheeler broke the latter story before the New York Times. Wheeler found information about Mohammed's waterboarding from a C.I.A. memo sent to John Rizzo, Senior Deputy Council for the C.I.A. Rizzo was involved with the C.I.A. secret prisons. His nomination for CIA general counsel was killed in the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The memo makes clear former C.I.A. Director George Tenet had to approve all uses of waterboarding.

Any interrogation plan that involves the use of enhanced techniques must be reviewed and approved by "the Director, DCI Counterterrorism Center, with the concurrence Chief, CTC Legal Group."

The memo admits Zubaydah and Mohammed were waterboarded.

Consistent with its heightened standard for the use of waterboarding, the CIA has used this technique in the interrogation of only three detainees to date (KSM, Zubaydah and 'Abd Al-Rahim Al-Nashiri) and has not been used since the March 2003 interrogation of KSM.

The damning evidence is on page 37.

The CIA used the waterboard "at least 83 times during August 2002" in the interrogation of Zubaydah. IG Report at 90, and 183 times during March 2003 in the interrogation of KSM, see id. at 91.

The memo mostly attempts the legally justify pure torture. Anyone that doesn't think waterboarding is torture should try it. George Tenet approved this. How long until Tenet starts passing the buck to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney?

President Barack Obama spoke at the C.I.A. Langley headquarters. The President promised not to prosecute or release the identity of operatives involved in waterboarding.

"You are an indispensable tool, the tip of the spear in America's international mission and our national security," Obama said. "I will be as vigorous in protecting you as you are in protecting the American people."

He acknowledged that "the last few days have been difficult" and said he would continue to fight to keep classified documents secret. But he defended his administration's decision to release select documents last week, saying much of the information in them was already public knowledge.

"I acted primarily because of the exceptional circumstances that surrounded these memos," Obama said.

Releasing the memos will put pressure on Obama to prosecute people. Former C.I.A. Director Michael Hayden has repeatedly attacked Obama. Hayden is obviously nervous. Hayden's argument that terrorsts weren't aware of C.I.A. interrogation methods before the memos were released. That is garbage. Hayden is covering his ass.



This is the same Hayden that told he didn't know if waterboarding was illegal.

It [waterboarding] is not included in the current program, and in my own view, the view of my lawyers and the Department of Justice, it is not certain that that technique would be considered to be lawful under current statute.

I have doubts only three detainees were waterboarded. A 2005 ABC News story details waterboarding and other tortures methods at an secret Afghanistan prison. Hayden told Congress only Zubaydah, Mohammed and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri were waterboarded. What is going on is Hayden knowingly perjured himself to Congress. I doubt Hayden will get charged for perjury. Hayden isn't so confident.

If waterboarded was safe and legal then why did the Bush administration lie about their interrogation methods for years? The Bush administration either suffered from a collective pathological lying disorder or were afraid of criminal indictments.

Update: Emily Bazelon proposes disbarment for David Addington, Alberto Gonzales and Jim Haynes. I would add Rizzo and Rizzo and John Yoo. How can Obama be able to argue these men shouldn't disbarred?

Update: John McCain criticizes Obama for releasing the memos. (Still testy about the election.) McCain does state waterboarding is morally wrong.

It's unacceptable. It's unacceptable. One is too much. Waterboarding is torture, period. I can ensure you that once enough physical pain is inflicted on someone, they will tell that interrogator whatever they think they want to hear. And most importantly, it serves as a great propaganda tool for those who recruit people to fight against us. And I've seen concrete examples of that talking to former high-ranking al-Qaeda individuals in Iraq.

Update: Batocchio has a lengthy must read piece on David Rivkin's defense of waterboarding.

Who Needs the Fourth Amendment

Senator Dianne Feinstein asked if the Fourth amendment applies to the military on domestic searches. The fact that Congress needs to ask the question is fucking scary. John Yoo and other past and present Bush administration officials viewed the Constitution as a minor hassle to their Orwellian-style of governing.

"This isn't a question of oversight," Feinstein said. "I'm just asking you, 'Is this memo in force that the Fourth Amendment does not apply?"

"The principle that the Fourth Amendment does not apply in wartime is not in force," Mukasey replied.

"That's not the principle I asked you about," Feinstein countered. The memo referred to domestic military operations, she said.

"There are no domestic military operations being carried out today," Mukasey replied.

"I'm asking you a question. That's not the answer."

"I'm unaware of any domestic military operations being carried out today," he repeated.

"You're not answering my question," she said.

Jack Goldsmith

Jack Goldsmith is a former attorney of the Office of Legal Council. He nearly resigned because of a top secret surveillance program. Former Justice Department official and FBI Director Robert Mueller were prepared to resign, with him, because of the same program. All three men were in the hospital room attempting to stop Alberto Gonzales and Andy Card from making John Ashcroft sign authorization to a secret program.

Goldsmith eventually resigned after overruling a John Yoo torture opinion.

Goldsmith was concerned, however, that the White House might overrule him. So he made a strategic decision: on the same day that he withdrew the opinion, he submitted his resignation, effectively forcing the administration to choose between accepting his decision and letting him leave quietly, or rejecting it and turning his resignation into a big news story. “If the story had come out that the U.S. government decided to stick by the controversial opinions that led the head of the Office of Legal Counsel to resign, that would have looked bad,” Goldsmith told me. “The timing was designed to ensure that the decision stuck.”

The White House drafted these opinions to justify their consolidation of presidential power. The NSA was not allowed to view legal opinions that involved their agency. The affect was the Bush administration weakened executive power for future generations.

In retrospect, Goldsmith told me, Bush “could have achieved all that he wanted to achieve, and put it on a firmer foundation, if he had been willing to reach out to other institutions of government.” Instead, Goldsmith said, he weakened the presidency he was so determined to strengthen. “I don’t think any president in the near future can have the same attitude toward executive power, because the other institutions of government won’t allow it,” he said softly. “The Bush administration has borrowed its power against future presidents.”

What is surprising about the legal fights within the administration is how well John Ashcroft comes off. He hated Yoo's opinions and thought tribunals were a bad idea. It's scary when conservative laywers feel that the Bushies are extreme. These people aren't tree-hugging hippies. They are hardcore Republican. Even they were shaking their heads and saying "WTF."

Hat tip to Mustang Bobby.