Ethics

The Lies on Torture Just Keep Coming

By Ed Brayton

One of the most unusual figures in the recent revelations about torture is John Kiriakou, a former CIA agent who helped capture Abu Zubaydah. In December 2007, Kiriakou went on ABC News and talked about the capture of Zubaydah and said some things that have now been shown to be clearly untrue. Here's some of what he said at the time:

In the first public comment by any CIA officer involved in handling high-value al Qaeda targets, John Kiriakou, now retired, said the technique broke Zubaydah in less than 35 seconds.

"The next day, he told his interrogator that Allah had visited him in his cell during the night and told him to cooperate," said Kiriakou in an interview to be broadcast tonight on ABC News' "World News With Charles Gibson" and "Nightline."

"From that day on, he answered every question," Kiriakou said. "The threat information he provided disrupted a number of attacks, maybe dozens of attacks."

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on May 04, 2009 (boomark / email).