Former CIA Inspector General Confirms BBC Torture Report

By Hilary Andersson

September 22, 2009 "BBC" Sept 21, 2009 --- The former CIA inspector general, John Helgerson, has confirmed that the Bush administration authorised the CIA to use a harsh interrogation method on terror suspect Abu Zubaydah before written legal clearance was given.


This is politically explosive, because the Bush administration has always claimed that it used harsh interrogation techniques such as waterboarding only after government lawyers had determined they did not amount to torture.

This summer, Panorama, in the investigation Licence to Torture, uncovered its own information that Abu Zubaydah had been waterboarded before written legal clearance came. Former CIA agent John Kiriakou, who led the team that captured Abu Zubaydah and was monitoring the cable traffic on his interrogation from CIA headquarters, told Panorama the suspect was waterboarded as early as May or June of that year.

The controversial government legal opinion that determined waterboarding was not torture was written in August of that year.

The date of Abu Zubaydah's waterboarding is a closely guarded secret that no second source would confirm at the time.

John Helgerson, who has spoken now that his classified investigation into the CIA interrogation programme has been released, made his comments in a recent interview with Der Spiegel magazine.

In the interview the reporter stated that Abu Zubaydah had been subjected to "enhanced interrogation techniques", as practices such as waterboarding are known, before August 1, 2002. "Did the lawyer who signed the memorandum simply authorise a technique months after this technique had already been applied ?" the reporter asked Helgerson..

"You are basically right" said Helgerson. "There was some legal advice given orally to the CIA that had then been followed up by memorandums months later".

In the course of his highly classified investigation into the CIA's interrogation programme launched in 2003, Helgerson interviewed more than 100 people and reviewed more than 38,000 documents.

Much of his report is still blacked out, but the parts that have been declassified found evidence of a variety of interrogation abuses including staging mock executions, intimidation using a powerdrill and threatening to kill the detainee's children in the event of further attacks on the US.

President Obama's administration has appointed prosecutor John Durham to begin preliminary investigations into whether any of the CIA interrogations of terror suspects were illegal. Civil rights groups are calling for the investigations to probe officials at the highest level, as the White House was closely involved in authorising the CIA's programme.

President Obama, however, has signalled that he does not want to be seen to be conducting a witchhunt of his predecessors in government, and it is widely expected that lower level officials will be the ones under the spotlight for now.

Views: 91

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

cheeki kea posted a photo
Wednesday
Burbia posted a video

Strange Videos That Expose Something Massive

#disturbing #video #strange #scary #scaryvideos #strangevideos This is a compilation of the most disturbing videos on the internet, not only...
Wednesday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Tuesday
Burbia commented on Burbia's video
Tuesday
Burbia posted a video

SUPEROLA & THE LOST BURGERS

This Game is RUBBISH !
Tuesday
pohonemas33 team commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

DejaVu

"nice very goodjob, i wish you can visit official situs pohonemas33"
Jul 26
Sandy posted a photo
Jul 26
Doc Vega posted a blog post
Jul 25
Saint Quinn favorited Burbia's video
Jul 24
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Jul 24
Burbia commented on tjdavis's blog post The Jewish Couple That Taught Bob Dylan Hebrew and Introduced Him to Zionism
"Haaretz put this story behind a pay wall. Sali Ariel and Terry Noble were the names of the couple…"
Jul 23
William Heckman is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Jul 23
cheeki kea commented on tjdavis's photo
Jul 23
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's video
Thumbnail

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future Forever

"It's a sad day on the highway. But I guess the show must go on. Watch out for the ruination of…"
Jul 23
cheeki kea posted a video

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future Forever

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future ForeverWelcome to Ride Radar – Your Frontline Source for Motorcycle Deals, Trends & Market Mayhem.Looking for t...
Jul 23
tjdavis posted a photo
Jul 23
Burbia posted a status
"Who knew releasing the MLK files and literally deflecting, it ends up implicating himself with the Epstein Files."
Jul 21
Burbia posted a video

Dan Bilzerian DEMOLISHES MAGA Nutjob Patrick Bet-David on His Own Show

Watch as two powerhouse personalities collide in this no-holds-barred debate on one of the world’s most contentious issues. Patrick Bet-David, known for his ...
Jul 21
Doc Vega's 7 blog posts were featured
Jul 20
tjdavis's 2 blog posts were featured
Jul 20

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted