What's the CIA afraid of?
Michelle Malsbury, BSBM, MM
December 10, 2007
The past few days have been a media frenzy to find out exactly why the CIA destroyed video and audio tapes from interrogations of supposed Al Qaeda suspects. The CIA points the finger at Jose Rodriques. CIA Director, Michael Hayden, states that he told both the House and Senate Intelligence Committee’s that they (the CIA) were going to do so prior to actually destroying the tapes. Nobody in the House or Senate recalls being told of this serious and potentially illegal act. Harriet Miers said on record that she cautioned them against doing so. President Bush refuses to comment on the issue.
These destroyed tapes were from 2002 interrogations between the CIA and Abu Zubaydah and include some “waterboarding”. “Waterboarding” is a technique that simulates drowning supposedly in order to elicit important information. “Waterboarding” was forbidden by the Pentagon after the debacle in Abu Ghrab prison in Iraq. Senator John McCain said that “waterboarding” is a violation of the Geneva Convention and should never be used as an interrogation technique.
CIA Director, Michael Hayden, said that all of their interrogations were done within the legal limits of the law. He added that these and other interrogation techniques have been helpful in disclosure of information relevant to terrorist operations and was always conducted under supervision. Excuses for the destruction of these tapes according to the CIA were because they did not want to disclose the identities of the agents doing the interrogations of these suspects. Last month the CIA failed to hand over other tapes from interrogations as requested by the U.S. District Court.
U.S. District Judge, Leonie Brinkema, back in March of 2005 ordered the government (including the CIA) to disclose records of their interrogations. The government objected. Judge Brinkema revised the original request that following November (2005) asking the government to either confirm or deny the existence of audio or video tapes of interrogations and named specific tapes under express request. 11 days afterward the government denied there were any tapes, which we now know were, and are, blatant lies.
Senator Jay Rockefeller (Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman) said he had later been made aware of the tapes, but was not aware that they had been destroyed. (destroyed back in November of 2006) Jamal Ware, Senior Advisor for the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that the CIA is not being honest about this sordid tale. Jennifer Daskel, Senior Counsel for Human Rights Watch, said that the destruction of these tapes is illegal and the CIA’s excuses are bogus at best. Naturally, the 9/11 Commission is outraged about this contemptuous act from the CIA and wants to unearth who knew what when before making any determinations as to what to do about this grave injustice.
Reference:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com, article titled “CIA Destroyed Interrogation Tapes”. AP posted 12/7/07
These destroyed tapes were from 2002 interrogations between the CIA and Abu Zubaydah and include some “waterboarding”. “Waterboarding” is a technique that simulates drowning supposedly in order to elicit important information. “Waterboarding” was forbidden by the Pentagon after the debacle in Abu Ghrab prison in Iraq. Senator John McCain said that “waterboarding” is a violation of the Geneva Convention and should never be used as an interrogation technique.
CIA Director, Michael Hayden, said that all of their interrogations were done within the legal limits of the law. He added that these and other interrogation techniques have been helpful in disclosure of information relevant to terrorist operations and was always conducted under supervision. Excuses for the destruction of these tapes according to the CIA were because they did not want to disclose the identities of the agents doing the interrogations of these suspects. Last month the CIA failed to hand over other tapes from interrogations as requested by the U.S. District Court.
U.S. District Judge, Leonie Brinkema, back in March of 2005 ordered the government (including the CIA) to disclose records of their interrogations. The government objected. Judge Brinkema revised the original request that following November (2005) asking the government to either confirm or deny the existence of audio or video tapes of interrogations and named specific tapes under express request. 11 days afterward the government denied there were any tapes, which we now know were, and are, blatant lies.
Senator Jay Rockefeller (Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman) said he had later been made aware of the tapes, but was not aware that they had been destroyed. (destroyed back in November of 2006) Jamal Ware, Senior Advisor for the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that the CIA is not being honest about this sordid tale. Jennifer Daskel, Senior Counsel for Human Rights Watch, said that the destruction of these tapes is illegal and the CIA’s excuses are bogus at best. Naturally, the 9/11 Commission is outraged about this contemptuous act from the CIA and wants to unearth who knew what when before making any determinations as to what to do about this grave injustice.
Reference:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com, article titled “CIA Destroyed Interrogation Tapes”. AP posted 12/7/07
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