“In a harsh December [31] 2002 document titled ‘Planning for a Self-Inflicted Wound,’ Anthony H. Cordesman, a widely recognized civilian expert in military strategy and the Middle East, warned that the Pentagon’s postwar planning was ‘uncoordinated and faltering’ and based on ignorance about Iraq and the region. ‘Far too many *experts,* ‘ Cordesman wrote, ‘have […]
12/26/2002
“According to one official who has been directly involved in rendering captives into foreign hands, the understanding is, ‘We don’t kick the [expletive] out of them. We send them to other countries so they can kick the [expletive] out of them.’ Some countries are known to use mind-altering drugs such as sodium pentathol, said other […]
12/26/2002
Regarding the treatment of detainees held in secret facilities overseas: ” ‘Based largely on the Central American human rights experience,’ said Fred Hitz, former CIA inspector general, ‘we don’t do torture, and we can’t countenance torture in terms of we can’t know of it.’ But if a country offers information gleaned from interrogations, ‘we can […]
12/26/2002
Regarding the treatment of detainees held in secret facilities overseas: “U.S. officials who defend the renditions say the prisoners are sent to these third countries not because of their coercive questioning techniques, but because of their cultural affinity with the captives. Besides being illegal, they said, torture produces unreliable information from people who are desperate […]
12/26/2002
“According to U.S. officials, nearly 3,000 suspected al Qaeda members and their supporters have been detained worldwide since Sept. 11, 2001. About 625 are at the U.S. military’s confinement facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Some officials estimated that fewer than 100 captives have been rendered to third countries. Thousands have been arrested and held with […]
12/26/2002
Regarding the treatment of detainees held in secret facilities overseas: ” ‘If you don’t violate someone’s human rights some of the time, you probably aren’t doing your job,’ said one official who has supervised the capture and transfer of accused terrorists. ‘I don’t think we want to be promoting a view of zero tolerance on […]
12/26/2002
"On December 26, 2002, the Washington Post published a story, by Dana Priest and Barton Gellman, alleging that CIA personnel were mistreating prisoners…in Afghanistan. Kenneth Roth, the Director of Human Rights Watch, was quoted in the story warning that if this was true, U.S. officials who knew about it could be criminally liable." – Jane […]
12/21/2002
“On December 21 [2002], [CIA Director George] Tenet arrived in the Oval Office to present his best case on Iraq’s weapons to [President] Bush. [National Security Advisor Condoleezza] Rice was there, as were [Vice President Dick] Cheney and [Chief of Staff Andrew] Card. It turned out to be a less than stellar performance. At the […]
12/21/2002
On December 21, 2002, CIA Director “George Tenet arrived at the White House with John McLaughlin, a career intelligence analyst who had risen to become the CIA’s deputy director, to outline the case for WMDs [in Iraq]. …the president [Bush] was unimpressed. ‘This is the best we’ve got?’ Bush asked Tenet. ‘George, how confident are […]
12/21/2002
Former CIA Director George Tenet explained his use of the term ‘slam dunk’ to describe the case of Saddam having WMD in Iraq, on December 21, 2002: “I certainly don’t deny using the term ‘slam dunk’ or strongly believing that Saddam had WMD. But the phrase has, in my view, been intentionally misused and thus […]