The Man Who Ordered CIA's Tape Destruction

Jose Rodriguez Ordered Tapes Of Terror Interrogations Destroyed Without Telling CIA Director

(CBS)  He is the man who ordered the destruction of video tapes documenting the CIA’s interrogation of two high-level al Qaeda operatives.

The then-head of the clandestine service, Jose Rodriguez, ordered the tapes destroyed shortly after a Washington Post expose focused attention on the CIA’s secret prisons, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports.

“Well, I think there might have been concern that those tapes could have been called for by some outside body and the CIA would no longer maintain control over them,” said retired CIA officer John Brennan, who is now a CBS News consultant.

Brennan says Rodriguez was also worried the Justice Department was backing away from its earlier support of harsh interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding.

“And that therefore agency officers who participated in those interrogation sessions may be subject to some type of prosecution,” Brennan said.

Rodriguiz ordered the tapes destroyed without telling then-CIA director Porter Goss and against the advice of the CIA’s own general counsel, the White House deputy counsel and the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

“I expressed concern about destroying any video tapes and said that would be a very ill-advised move by the agency,” Rep. Jane Harman, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said.

Former CIA officer John Kiriakou led the raid, which captured the al Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah, told CBS News he and at least one other CIA officer refused to use the harsh interrogation techniques.

That job, he said, was turned over to retired commandos under contract to the CIA.

[cdfoxtrot]

Welcome to America 2007. Torture is okay here and those who practice it are well protected by the establishment, with immunity from US and international law. And be careful you don''t disagree with authority or engage in public dissent or you might find yourself tazered, tortured, you name it, by those fine, brave patriots who "protect" us. Land of the free, home of the brave. What a great country we have become.

[skyk-2009]

That job, he said, was turned over to retired commandos under contract to the CIA.

Probably some of Nixon''s pal''s here!! When we start outsourcing Torture folks there''s not much left of the America my father fought for... not much at all. The people responsible for this embarrassment need to be fried, top to bottom!!

[rowdytexan2]

The worms are coming out of the walls. I''ll lay a $100 down on the table he had direct orders from the White House, and he''ll be the scapegoat.

[bareemperor]

BuSHAMErica

[pvperson]

I don''t know who is worse, the administration that hates America and everything it once represented or the republican voters that put them in power and then kept them in power even after they saw what they were doing to our country. What a sad thing we have become.

[inbredwhty]

Don''t worry, this guy will go the way of Kenneth Lay...he''ll have a heart attack and be declared dead publicly within 30 days, and then its off into the Witness Protection Program with the "Get Out of Jail Free" card GW gave him 4 years ago for that very generous campaign contribution.

[mrconservatv]

Rodriguiz ordered the tapes destroyed without telling then-CIA director Porter Goss and against the advice of the CIA%u2019s own general counsel, the White House deputy counsel and the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.


Victor Marchetti wrote: "A ''limited hangout'' is spy jargon for a favorite and frequently used gimmick of the clandestine professionals. When their veil of secrecy is shredded and they can no longer rely on a phony cover story to misinform the public, they resort to admitting - sometimes even volunteering - some of the truth while still managing to withhold the key and damaging facts in the case. The public, however, is usually so intrigued by the new information that it never thinks to pursue the matter further."[1]

[stevex47]

poopsbutt,

"Although I personally wouldnt condone it, how about getting all the facts before you start casting stones."

Sure would have been nice if Boosh got all the facts...like NO WMD''s.

Good thing a Dem showed them the facts about Iran''s non-weapons.

[poopusbuttus]

Sure would have been nice if Boosh got all the facts...like NO WMD''''s.

Good thing a Dem showed them the facts about Iran''''s non-weapons.


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Posted by stevex47

You mean, BUSH and all of the DEMS that authorized him to go to war......right?

[poopusbuttus]

I always wonder why these CIA and FBI and other government people are nutty enough to defend this country that hates them so much.


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

Posted by ilikecats1


How do you figure that the country hates them?

[poopusbuttus]

I read the comments in these posts and I''''d let these government and business and CIA and Intelligence agency and corporation and White House and Bush and conservative and Republican haters rot.


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

Posted by ilikecats1


You sure use a lot of "ands" when you write, dont you? :)

[downtowner97]

The party you like is in power, so you think the CIA and FBI should be able to do whatever they see fit without oversight or consequences. If Hillary gets elected, you''ll scream like a mashed cat if you think the CIA has done anything unconstitutional. How about if we just make sure there''s oversight whoever is in power so it''s a level playing field. The Constitution is a wonderful document that''s not liberal or conservative, it''s just the basis for our country.

Nazi Germany was horrible powerful and evil and killed far more Americans than Muslim Extremists. We beat them without sacrificing our morals or our values or violating our constitution.

[tylenol6]

Looks like he will be the fall guy for Bushite and
the administration. I am quite sure Bush and Cheney
had nothing to do with it. Yeah right!!!!!!

[docadams3]

Sounds like he needs to be deported.

[p-syrus]

What is most intriguing is what CBS news has not reported on: Rodriguez personal connection to Kopher Black, Adviser to the Romney Campaign, Vice Chairman of Blackwater International and Rodriguez'' former boss & mentor at the CIA.

Black was evidently responsible for anti-terrorist operations, including interrogations at the CIA at the time that the tapes were made.

Just how far is the nation dependent on blackwater on what is the CIA''s role in promoting these "black ops".

[vet_sk]

Bull... Don''t buy it. It just doesn''t fly. Yesteday Harriet Myers was said to have known about the PLANS to destroy the tapes. Now they have a fall guy? Media, Hello! Do you job!

DEMS in Congress: DO Not Drop This Investigation.

[nirak2-2009]

Ordering those tapes destroyed should get him a nice Promotion huh?

[neobrian-2009]

Rowdy Tex is Right!
A New Scapegoat for King W is born ! These 28%ers that uphold Resident Idiot Shrub should have to do time with him in prison. W and his '' Brain-washed Tribe " have corrupted,lied to, and totally embarrassed our country. They have stolen our tax money,shredded the constitution and murdered many innocent people. Someone should be held accountable.Everybody makes jokes here,including me,but this administration literally makes me sick.

[nirak2-2009]

very true neobrian
The whole Administration should be tarred and feathered and send to the Hague

[jowand]

The guys a hero, Nobel Peace prize next year?

[rushlimpdrug]

What!?
An illegal allien ordering the tapes to be destroyed?

Where is bush getting all these landscapers?

First the monkey gonzo, now roger rabbit.

Send them back if they can''t act civil.

[cburn665]

As much as I dislike this administration''s treatment of American affairs. Can anyone explain how to get a terroist to give up information without some form of torture?? Seriously.

I understand what the CIA did was violate OUR rules setforth in the Geneva Convention and how it looks to other countries and that WE the U.S. is suppose to be the moral leader and all.

...This administration is the blame for all this mess that we are going through. God how do they sleep at night?

[rushlimpdrug]

Posted by ilikecats1 at 08:50 PM

For the record, since you like cats, is it true they taste like chicken?

[walt1944-2009]

The Great Emperor Bush II emphatically denies the rumors swimming around Washington that Jose Rodriguez, the man who ordered the destruction of the CIA tapes, is really the former AG, Alberto (the Great Gonzo) Gonzales in disguise and under an alias!

Although it is a very well known fact that people from south of the Rio Grande use some 50 odd combinations of names to "identify" themselves (which drive police and pharmacists up the wall), the Great Emperor states positively that Rodriguez and Gonzalez are not the same person (although they could possibly be related someway)!

He further asserts that it has yet to be proven that "Rodriguez" actually did destroy the tapes and that they may have been "accidentally" destroyed in the same way that the infamous 18 minute gap was "accidentally" erased in Nixon''s tapes during the Watergate crises!

Besides, the Emperor still firmly believes that the tapes the CIA used had been on loan from the Impossible Mission Force and meant to self-destruct on their own after a certain time limit or when curious Whimp-ocrats began getting too nosey!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!

[jowand]

Bull... Don''''t buy it. It just doesn''''t fly. Yesteday Harriet Myers was said to have known about the PLANS to destroy the tapes. Now they have a fall guy? Media, Hello! Do you job!

DEMS in Congress: DO Not Drop This Investigation.
Posted by VET_SK at 10:04 PM : Dec 10, 2007

They did for once check the link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/08/AR2007120801664.html?hpid=topnews

[cburn665]

The saddest thing of all is how easily manipulated a people we have become. Between the every day grind of work, people barely have the time to be families, let alone pay attention to detail in politics. ...Posted by scorp79

Scorp79, you couldn''t have said it any better. Everybody thinks that it is joke---evry'' American should be outraged how the shysters in Washington have sold this country out.

[sharncedar]

Another of Bush''s Mexican mafia. He brought in all these illegals and their demon spaewn children, of course they don''t understand freedom or American values. Bush is a great president - of Mexico. Just as Clinton was a great president - of China and India. i hope someday we can have our own president. Not El Presidente the man raised by a Mexican "mother" or madre or monster or whatever they call their demon-like womenfolk.

[endofempire]

The nation has never changed... It is the same as it once was, with America throwing its weight around. In the 1800 and early 1900s in Nicaragua and Panama and yes, many unanswered murders did take place... Do a little research. Read about our involvement in the Dominican Republic and how we "changed the course of history" there. How about Puerto Rico in the 50''s. Guys, get real, we are the same thugs as always... The only difference was that back then, American was not full of milquetoast sissies who could not stomach doing what it takes to keep our fortress protected. If you hate what we are doing, trust me, you dont'' want to see our streets will look like if your efforts to de-stabilize our country are successful. Your kids will pay for your lack of gonads.

[sharncedar]

"As much as I dislike this administration''''s treatment of American affairs. Can anyone explain how to get a terroist to give up information without some form of torture?? Seriously."

a seriously stupid question, but I''ll try to answer. The way to gather intelligence on groups is two means, and only two means: to infiltrate the group with an agent, or to turn one of the members as a double agent. These are the only actual ways to gather intelligence. Torture gives you noise, nonsense, spurious names and confessions that are worthless or even misleading. The only use of torture is for an entirely different purpose, which is to create the appearance of a crime where none was committed. This is why "witch trials" used torture, and the Catholic Inquisition used torture, and the Soviet secret police used torture. not to gather intelligence (there really aren''t any witches, and Galileo was right not wrong, and the US was actually a nicer place than USSR) but to create false intelligence, to create the appearance of a crime or crisis where none exists.

simple enough? You ask for a serious explanation, but I''m sure you don''t listen, just go back to Rush Limberger''s lies.

[fairandbal]

This is truly the fall guy in this situation. Bush himself ordered the destruction of the tapes so that his administration would not be brought before anymore courts. Bush needs to be impeached now!!!!

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by endofempire

You were doing OK until you trotted out the lie of "protecting our fortress".

America''s foreign policies to date have had little and nothing to do with our protection. Our military has been used as a mercenary force for the agendas of greedy corporations, whose very existence is actually of very little or no consequence to America''s security.

Killing the inhabitants of some banana producing country in central America has nothing to do with US security, Grenada, Nicaragua, Panama, Bolivia, Cuba, Columbia, and, for that matter, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Israel, Lebanon, Syria eastern Europe, Africa, none of these countries is any threat whatsoever to US security, unless you consider only the pockets of greedy and corrupt US businesses there as being the US.

[brianbwb-2009]

Which measures are you against? Are there any you''''d like to see implemented that haven''''t yet been discussed or mention?
Posted by TheGateway1

I am against any measures commonly regarded as violation of human rights. Your first question is a false one, as torture does not save lives, as a victim will say whatever the torturer wants, whether true or not, if it might stop the torture.

If I follow the tone of your post, I might kidnap and torture you, because you might be a racist accomplice, and torturing you might give me the info I need to "take down" the kkk, or aryan nations.

It doesn''t matter that I have no proof of my suspicion, as long as I torture out of you information that is relevant to my agenda, and to that end, as long as it is secret, I can lie and say you had such info, and no one can check.

The point being I am against violating the "Golden Rule", doing to others what I would not accept being done to myself.

[brianbwb-2009]

"As much as I dislike this administration''''''''s treatment of American affairs. Can anyone explain how to get a terroist to give up information without some form of torture?? Seriously." Posted by SharnCedar

First, look up the definition of "terrorist", what makes you think that a "terrorist" has any information? A person bent on causing terror can be like the shooters in our malls and high schools and colleges, they fit the exact definition of the word terrorist, what information do think they might have?

[jetranger7]

YA- HERES HOW YOU DO IT - INJECT HIM WITH SODIUM PENETHAUL, HE''LL START TALKING ALL KINDS OF TRUTH THEN !!!!

[jerr11]

"Jose Rodriguez Ordered Tapes Of Terror Interrogations Destroyed Without Telling CIA Director"



Another sucker taking the fall for the Decider.

When it comes to decision making this Idiot-Decider sure knows how to pass the buck!

[downtowner97]

When you become the enemy, you''ve lost the war. Torture isn''t the answer. We beat Germany and Japan after they had an enormous head start without torture and without violating our constitution. Both those countries accepted defeat and feared and respected us after the war was over mostly because it was so awesome that we fought so honorably.

Torturing a few people who had weeks or months old information while our borders leaked untold thousands from who knows where did not improve our security. Security comes from having solid borders, deporting those who have overstayed their visas, and keeping good troops, not feeding them to roadside bombs.

We''re less safe, further in debt, and more divided than we were on 9/10/2001, and it''s not because of the terrorists.

[downtowner97]

Let''s play a little torture game:

You were a businessman in Iraq, and you lent a really shady guy a hundred bucks. The CIA came into Iraq, and offered anyone who could finger a terrorist twenty thousand bucks. The guy who owes you money points at you, thereby getting a big paycheck while erasing his debt to you.

Now you''re in a cell in Guantanamo, and you''re pulled out and put in a concrete room with some CIA agents. They drown you for a few minutes and ask you for a name of someone really bad. You get tired of having your head held under water, so you yell out "Hakeem Muhammad al Tikriti!". You go back to your cell, and the CIA spends hundreds of hours over several months looking for someone you made up.

After a couple years, the CIA figures out you know nothing, and releases you. You go tell everyone America sucks, and from your perspective, you''re right.

Meanwhile, someone with a randomly selected combination of one of the 10 available first names and 5 available last names in the Spanish language has walked right across the border and popped out a baby that will paint all over everything and stab people.

[chitwn4]

If you think torture is legal, just, or moral I implore you to write to President Bush and ask him to issue a pardon to the over 400 Japanese who found gulity of torture (waterboarding) after WW II. If we now use this technique and we feel it is legal, just, and moral we owe it to these brave Japanese soldiers who were wrongly convicted in a court of law.

[papabc]

Jose Rodriguez did the right thing to protect America from those that would harm America.


The Democrat held House and Senate.

[brianbwb-2009]

Meanwhile, someone with a randomly selected combination of one of the 10 available first names and 5 available last names in the Spanish language has walked right across the border and popped out a baby that will paint all over everything and stab people.
Posted by downtowner97

Wrong, he will be so pro USA that he will join the military, and work really hard to become a head of the clandestine services, and than cover up crimes against humanity by his beloved president.

[brianbwb-2009]

You go back to your cell, and the CIA spends hundreds of hours over several months looking for someone you made up. Posted by downtowner97

Wrong, the CIA will actually find someone whose name coincides with the name you''ve given, then they will kill him, his family, and a few neighbors just for good measure, and any witnesses will be rounded up and taken to Guantanamo for a taste of the same treatment.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Jose Rodriguez did the right thing to protect America from those that would harm America." Posted by papabc

That one is so ludicrous as to be almost funny. He has harmed America by aiding and abetting crimes against humanity by those who also harmed America by committing them.

The reason it is not actually funny is that you might actually believe what you posted, either that, or your joke is just too subtle for most...

[bluestardad]

SO NOW THEY ARE BRINGING OUT THE FALL GUY!

HE WILL NO NOTHING CLAIM THE AUTHORITIES DID NOT KNOW AND THAT HE DID IT ON HIS OWN WITHOUT ANY INSTRUCTIONS FROM HIS SUPERIORS!

THEN THE BUSHIT CREW WILL EXPECT THE ENTIRE NATION TO BELIEVE HE ACTED ALONE!

WANT SOME KOOL AID?

[brianbwb-2009]

%u201CAnd that therefore agency officers who participated in those interrogation sessions may be subject to some type of prosecution,%u201D Brennan said.

At least this one is better than the first lies from the CIA, that they feared compromising the IDs of it''s operatives.

The Valerie Plame case completely blew that lie out of the water before it was even pronounced.

[jetranger7]

LEE HARVEY OSWALD - ORDERED THE TAPES DESTROYED !!

[jedi08]

I love when the Administration sticks it to the dems over and over and over again. Listen people, they are the CIA, they are supposed to have secrects. First, all you left wing nuts had your panties in a bunch because we gave away Valarie (hottie) secret CIA status, now you are upset because we didn''t reveal the secret tapes, ah make up your mind.

I would of dumped the tapes too and given my middle finger to the Dems again for another pointless witchhunt. Why don''t they get something accomplished in congress instead of these pointless investigaions. Im so sick of how everything is so political now. You will never catch Bush or Cheney in anything, they did what they thought they had to to protect all of you from more planes flying into buildings are a nuclear bomb going off in our citys and they aren''t stupid enough to leave *** stains on there mistakes!!!! hahahaha

[jedi08]

Bush and Cheney aren''t dumb enough to leave a stain on a dress, they get rid of the evidence. Good for them. Congress is a total joke

[neoconrcrazy]

""Former CIA officer John Kiriakou led the raid, which captured the al Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah, told CBS News he and at least one other CIA officer refused to use the harsh interrogation techniques.

That job, he said, was turned over to retired commandos under contract to the CIA. ""


And here is the real story. What I''ve heard is that this "job" was given to israeli "trained" instructors who have years of experience in torturing palestinians. Many palestinians after seeing the pictures of Abu Gharib prison, say it the same method used on them.

dirty business, to say the least.

[neoconrcrazy]

they aren''''t stupid enough to leave *** stains on there mistakes!!!! hahahaha

Posted by jedi08


spoken like a true neo-facist American - there is little pride in it, much to answer for.

[adian1-2009]

Well, let''s bring in Rodriguez and question him under oath. If he can give good and legal reasons that explain why the tapes were destroyed, it will be ok. I doubt there could be absolutely any good reason save to cover some illegal behavior. If so, then let us subject Rodriguez to the corresponding criminal proceeding and put him wherever he belongs for obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence in anticipation of legislative investigations, etc. I just can''t buy the explanations given up to now. At the same time, it just does not sound probable that Rodriguez ordered the destruction of the tapes all on his own and without giving notice and obtaining the consent of his superiors.