The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Washington / AFP
CIA lawyers sought guarantees the US spy agency would never be prosecuted for torturing suspects after the September 11, 2001 attacks, while other staff warned the program was an impending “train wreck,†documents showed.
The correspondence provides a new glimpse into tussles within the CIA as it implemented its notorious “enhanced interrogation†techniques aimed at thwarting further attacks.
Fifty documents, released under a freedom of information request from the American Civil Liberties Union, detail the early days of the CIA’s use of torture, after then-president George W. Bush directed the agency to detain terror suspects around the world.
A July 2002 draft letter from CIA lawyers to the attorney general sought legal protections before agents interrogated Abu Zubaydah, an alleged Al-Qaeda member who is still detained at Guantanamo Bay. “The use of more aggressive methods is required to persuade Abu Zubaydah to provide the critical information we need,†the letter states.
“I respectfully request that you grant a formal declination of prosecution, in advance, for any employees… who may employ methods in the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah that otherwise might subject those individuals to prosecution.â€
The Justice Department at the time ruled that certain detainees could be subjected to enhanced interrogation, including the use of the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding.
The CIA hasn’t used these methods since December 2007, and President Barack Obama banned them when he took office in January 2009.
But the newly released documents describe how some agency employees had misgivings much sooner. “I will no longer be associated in any way with the interrogation program,†an agency employee stated in a January 2003 memo. The CIA blanked out the name of the sender and the
recipient.
“This is a train wreck waiting to happen, and I intend to get the hell off the train before it happens.†The documents show the CIA believed it extracted details from Zubaydah of a purported plot to detonate a “dirty bomb†in the Washington area. However, a top CIA medical official later said any information could have been obtained through regular interrogation.
“In retrospect, (doctors) thought (he) probably reached the point of cooperation even prior to the… institution of ‘enhanced’ measures,†the official said.