Bush's counterterror chief defends harsh interrogations

Images of Osama Bin Laden and Sheikh Khalid Mohammed over the compound in Pakistan where bin Laden lived and was killed.

Jose Rodriguez, the former head of the CIA's counterterrorism center who oversaw the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques," gave his first public interview to Time magazine this week to defend the role the use of techniques like waterboarding played in the operation against Osama bin Laden.

The question of the role such techniques played in this mission arose after reports revealed that two key terror detainees -- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Faraj al-Libi -- gave American officials the nickname of a courier who ultimately led U.S. intelligence officials to bin Laden. The two detainees gave the initial information up at foreign CIA "black sites," where waterboarding -- historically considered a form of torture by the U.S. -- and other "enhanced interrogation" techniques were used.

"Information provided by KSM and Abu Faraj al-Libi about Bin Laden's courier was the lead information that eventually led to the location of [bin Laden's] compound and the operation that led to his death," Rodriguez told Time.

Special Report: The killing of Osama bin Laden
Pictures: Osama's hideaway

Rodriguez ran the CIA's CounterTerrorism Center from 2002 to 2005, when KSM and al-Libi were taken into custory and subjected to "enhanced interrogation." The Justice Department investigated Rodriguez last year for the destruction of videos showing the interrogation of senior al Qaeda officials, but Rodriguez was cleared of charges.

The White House and other officials have played down the significance of enhanced interrogations in the operation to hunt down bin Laden, but Rodriguez's remarks drew one of the White House's strongest criticisms yet.

"There is no way that information obtained by [enhanced interrogation techniques] was the decisive intelligence that led us directly to bin Laden," National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told Time. "It took years of collection and analysis from many different sources to develop the case that enabled us to identify this compound, and reach a judgment that bin Laden was likely to be living there."

While KSM and al-Libbi gave U.S. officials the nickname of the courier that led to bin Laden, it took years for the CIA to learn the courier's real name and eventually track him down. That information was uncovered after President Bush had ceased waterboarding and shuttered the CIA black sites.

Rodriguez told Time that the information from al-Libi was the most important. Al-Libi was not waterboarded, but a week after being subjected to other "enhanced interrogation" techniques, he gave the CIA the tip that the courier only ran messages to bin Laden about every two months or so, Rodriguez said.

"I realized that bin Laden was not really running his organization. You can't run an organization and have a courier who makes the rounds every two months," Rodriguez says. "So I became convinced then that this was a person who was just a figurehead and was not calling the shots, the tactical shots, of the organization. So that was significant."

As the Hotsheet noted Tuesday, the CIA in 2006 closed its unit dedicated to finding bin Laden, though agents said tracking him remained a high priority. President Obama put renewed focus on the hunt for bin Laden when he took office.

Rodriguez said that the U.S. should revive its "enhanced interrogation" because without it, "it will be hard for people in important positions to be able to deal with terrorists."

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said yesterday there has been "no change whatsoever" to President Obama's opposition to the use of enhanced interrogation techniques.

[juztanobody]

All of u that are buying into all of this are stupid and belive anything ur told by our government,9/11 was carried out by wait for this.....Our Government. there are clear videos of explosions going off one by one at the bottom of the towers.1300 arcitects and enginers saw it as it was. a controled dimillition. they join building what? campain and got enough signiturs to lap the world but was denied for a reinvestigation, by the U.S government.they have changed the story 5x so far about what happened with the (capture of bin) and y would a u.s cia agent take cridet for it? I dont know i guess the same reason saddam also cia agent was put in controll where he was. religos war perposuse. try this google fbi most wanted list. bin ladden wanted poster says nothing even about 9/11. yall need to wake up our government is taking us for a ride. the news is controlled by guess who yep so dont expect them to show u whats up. you got to dig for it. kidda like how they are now shifting all the focus on the hellicopter. kinda odd that they would leave a TOP secret like that just there. use your head people. government didnt make us. we made the government

[Birdman04]

You are with out a doubt a idiot conspiracy freak.

[acdcguy]

you are f'n scary!! i pray there aren't many more like you out there, but i know better, this world if filled with nutbags. come out of your mom's basement and get some fresh air!!!

[infantryman1968]

Bush declines Obama invitation to ground zero

Spokesman for George W. Bush says former president has chosen to remain out of spotlight during his post-presidency

LOL!

Bill Clintonista declined the invitation also. Very unusual for him to stay out of the spotlight.

Obama and his followers criticized everything Bush did in the Global war on Terror for the last 10 years and took every opportunity to Aid and Abet the enemy in their personal war against Bush. The Enemy of My Enemy is my Friend.

This is Obama's moment in the sun. Let him have it.

[guyfrompa46]

Waterborading was too good for them Start pullng off fingers and watch em sing.

[lucifersshadow]

So in order to bring justice to the terrorists . . . we must become more like them?

[guyfrompa46]

wahhhhh... I feel so bad for the poor terroists.. You're a clown,

[edgemaster--2008]

Nothing justifies Crimes Against Humanity - nothing.
To stoop so low, means that the other side has won.
It is our duty to arrest and bring to trial Mr. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Ms. Rice for these greatest of all crimes.
If we don't have the guts to do so, then hopefully another country will.

If they are so convinced of their innocence, surely they have nothing to fear from an honest judiciary.

[acdcguy]

Makes me sick to my stomach when I read such ignorant comments as this. These are terrorist with only one goal and that is to kill Americans. F' them, do whatever it takes to extract information that could keep me, my family, my neighbors and friends safe. Your warm milk and cookie approach is so out of touch. I'm sure you were also offended by the code name "GERONIMO" for this operation. Please, just go away and take your PC bs with ya!!!

[guyfrompa46]

acdcguy -You are exactly right. These scumbags aren;t even human. They don;t care about killing.. It's like going to the movies for them. The libs that pull this crap are a joke and obviously never directly affected by what's transpired. Basically they are pathetic and should do us all a favor and go away.

[babooph]

Surely Himmler liked his methods,did those methods win WW2?

[Mortarman429]

This from CBS's own report:

-------


CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that the courier was described as a protege of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed, and the man who delivered bin Laden's orders to al Qaeda operatives in the field. In fact, current and former U.S. officials said that Mohammed gave intelligence officials the courier's name. The CIA got similar information from Mohammed's successor, Abu Faraj al-Libi. Both were subjected to harsh interrogation tactics inside CIA prisons in Poland and Romania.


It was about four years ago that U.S. intelligence finally determined the courier's real name: Maulawi Abd al-Khaliq Jan. Take a look at it. It cost bin Laden his life.


Key to the hunt was identifying the cell phone number of the courier and placing it under surveillance. In 2010, the U.S. intercepted a call to the courier in which he was asked where he had been. He responded that he was back with the people he had been with before. The caller then said, "May God facilitate you" - the implication being that courier was back with bin Laden and his family.


The courier did not make it easy to locate the compound, however, since every time he approached the compound, he turned off his phone. He did this more than 90 minutes out and removed the battery, so he went totally dark and would leave it off when he was in the compound. When he left the compound, he would wait 90 minutes and turn it back on. Analysts would therefore keep seeing this pop up in places all over Pakistan but nowhere near to Abbattabod. This is why it took so long to find the compound after they had the name and the cell phone number for the courier.

[curse914]

by nottblu May 4, 2011 3:56 PM EDT
24 soldiers took this evil basstard out, that's not a nuke in a knife fight.

==============================

Duh. I was not talking about Osama in this instance. Osama needed to be taken out, and he need to be burred at see. All of it was strategic and smart, nothing I would expect from you are anyone you would call a leader.

[Mortarman429]

You are correct in this instance, Curse. It was done correctly.

[Mortarman429]

by facelessdrone2005 May 4, 2011 3:55 PM EDT
So, Mort, if the end justifies the means, then what if waterboarding doesn't work? OK with you to try pulling out fingernails, electric shocks to the testicles, cutting off fingers, raping his wife in front of him, WTH, anything that gets an answer is okay for the land of the free and the home of the brave. Right?

----------------

Okay, you obviously have no combat arms experience, so this may be hard for you. But let's try.

Using an example scenario from a movie that I saw...

You are a platoon leader. You have 35 men, who are surrounded and under seige by 100 of the enemy. You managed to capture one of their platoon leaders and radio operators. You are about to be overrun.

You could just keep fighting...but you are losing and help is not close enough to save you. So, unless you change the dynamic, you WILL be overrun and either killed or captured. What do you do?

[Mortarman429]

Lawyers, you are free to answer this also. Anyone is.

What would you do in this situation?

[Mortarman429]

Cant answer the question, Usaisback?

[usadvisor101]

I would imagine its more common place then we can even imagine. its the way it always has been. certain circumstance and depending on the situation,you know it gets ugly. Its war and nowadays, we still treat our enemy combatants ten fold better than all of our enemies past and present. not saying it right or wrong, and in most cases ,its not needed.

whats inhumane is teh fact our enemies often dont get speedy due process. then when we do catch them we put them in a nice,cushy jail cell. we rreally need to start sending teh right message to our enemies. perhaps some kind of international military tribunal is the way to go. there was nothing wrong with the nuremberg trails. they work, and spared the world alot of time and money. execute those that deserve it,or have committed henious terrorist acts,then we will send the right message.