The CIA Destroyed 2 Interrogation Tapes
This shows incompetance at the highest levels of the CIA. To give you an idea of how bad this is, it could mean that the conviction of Zacarias Moussaoui be overturned. His lawyers had asked for any and all tapes of the 9/11 plotters. They were told that none existed:
The Central Intelligence Agency in 2005 destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Al Qaeda operatives in the agency’s custody, a step it took in the midst of Congressional and legal scrutiny about the C.I.A’s secret detention program, according to current and former government officials.
The videotapes showed agency operatives in 2002 subjecting terror suspects ” including Abu Zubaydah, the first detainee in C.I.A. custody ” to severe interrogation techniques. They were destroyed in part because officers were concerned that tapes documenting controversial interrogation methods could expose agency officials to greater risk of legal jeopardy, several officials said.The C.I.A. said today that the decision to destroy the tapes had been made “within the C.I.A. itself,” and they were destroyed to protect the safety of undercover officers and because they no longer had intelligence value. The agency was headed at the time by Porter J. Goss. Through a spokeswoman, Mr. Goss declined this afternoon to comment on the destruction of the tapes.
The existence and subsequent destruction of the tapes are likely to reignite the debate over the use of severe interrogation techniques on terror suspects, and their destruction raises questions about whether C.I.A. officials withheld information about aspects of the program from the courts and from the Sept. 11 commission appointed by President Bush and Congress. It was not clear who within the C.I.A. authorized the destruction of the tapes, but current and former government officials said it had been approved at the highest levels of the agency.
Ed:
The CIA claims it notified Congress of the tapes’ destruction. The Times doesn’t bother to mention this until halfway through the article. The Washington Post mentions them at about the same place — but they also include a statement from Jay Rockefeller, at the time the ranking member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He disputes Hayden’s contention that committee leadership was fully briefed on the tapes, saying information came to him a year later about their destruction. The CIA presented them with the fait accompli, and did not consult.
House Intelligence Committee Jane Harman (D-CA) confirms that she got briefed on the tapes before their destruction:
Rep. Jane Harman of California, then the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, was one of only four members of Congress in 2003 informed of the tapes’ existence and the CIA’s intention to ultimately destroy them.
“I told the CIA that destroying videotapes of interrogations was a bad idea and urged them in writing not to do it,” Harman said. While key lawmakers were briefed on the CIA’s intention to destroy the tapes, they were not notified two years later when the spy agency actually carried out the plan. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said the committee only learned of the tapes’ destruction in November 2006.
» Ny Times – the making of a story from Macsmind – Blog of The MacRanger Show!
What tales they weave at the Ny Times. “WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 ” The Central Intelligence Agency in 2005 destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Al Qaeda operatives in the agency’s custody, a step it took in the mid… [Read More]
» C.I.A. Destroyed Two Taped Interrogations from The Moderate VoiceShades of Watergate? An ominious sign that we are no longer just using the tools of government to battle terrorism but slipping far away from the founding father’s concept of America ” or the concept held under most administrations througho… [Read More]
» Shred those DVDs from Neocon News
While we go back and forth over whether or not the CIA totally sucks, here’s a fresh story you can add to your plate for digestion (h/t: MM). C.I.A. Destroyed Tapes of Interrogations WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 � The Central Intelligence Agency in 2005 de… [Read More]
See Rick Moran , Jamses Joyner and Michelle Malkin for more insight
H/T to Memeorandum
December 7, 2007 - 07:16 PM on December 7th, 2007
Yep, it shows incompetence at the CIA. They should’ve NEVER made the videos in the first place or denied their existence from the beginning if they had. I think it was Teddy the drunk who asked “why were the videos destroyed, didn’t the head of the CIA trust his own people?” Considering the number of leaks and near useless analysis coming out of there lately, I damn well wouldn’t have.