The methods succeeded in breaking him, and the stories he told of al-Qaeda terrorism plots sent CIA officers around the globe chasing leads.
In the end, though, not a single significant plot was foiled as a result of Abu Zubaida's tortured confessions, according to former senior government officials who closely followed the interrogations. Nearly all of the leads attained through the harsh measures quickly evaporated, while most of the useful information from Abu Zubaida -- chiefly names of al-Qaeda members and associates -- was obtained before waterboarding was introduced, they said.
Moreover, within weeks of his capture, U.S. officials had gained evidence that made clear they had misjudged Abu Zubaida. President George W. Bush had publicly described him as "al-Qaeda's chief of operations," and other top officials called him a "trusted associate" of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a major figure in the planning of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. None of that was accurate, the new evidence showed.
Not only wasn't Zubaida "al-Qaeda's chief of operations," he "was not even an official member of al-Qaeda." That's not to say he wasn't involved in the terrorist organization; he was a "'fixer' for radical Muslim ideologues," but played no part in 9/11.
The main point I want to make is that the torture resulted in false confessions.
Abu Zubaida's revelations triggered a series of alerts and sent hundreds of CIA and FBI investigators scurrying in pursuit of phantoms. The interrogations led directly to the arrest of Jose Padilla, the man Abu Zubaida identified as heading an effort to explode a radiological "dirty bomb" in an American city. Padilla was held in a naval brig for 3 1/2 years on the allegation but was never charged in any such plot. Every other lead ultimately dissolved into smoke and shadow, according to high-ranking former U.S. officials with access to classified reports.
"We spent millions of dollars chasing false alarms," one former intelligence official said.
Despite the poor results, Bush White House officials and CIA leaders continued to insist that the harsh measures applied against Abu Zubaida and others produced useful intelligence that disrupted terrorist plots and saved American lives.
Of course, the Bush assurances were BS -- torture had turned out to be a waste of time and the "information" obtained turned out to be a waste of resources. This backs up a former FBI agent's claim that the intelligence they got from Zubaida was "crap."
"I don't have confidence in anything he says, because once you go down that road [torture], everything you say is tainted," retired FBI agent Daniel Coleman said last December. "He was talking before they did that to him, but they didn't believe him. The problem is they didn't realize he didn't know all that much."
Turns out that decisions Bush made in a panic were bad ones. Everything thinking people have said about torture has been proved true here; torture isn't a truth extractor, all it does is guarantee the subject will say what they think you want to hear. Torture anyone long enough and they'll offer a detailed confession to the assassination of Lincoln, if that's what you're looking for.
Not only is torture criminal, but it's a stupid waste of time.
1 comments:
Thanks Wisco.
-S
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