Comments on: FBI Agent Who Interrogated Abu Zubaydah: The Torture Advocates Are Lying to You

By: Eyepublius

Eyepublius — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 06:57:26 +0000

Former FBI Agent, Mr. Ali Soufan IS NOT lying in fact he spoke from behind a screen to the Senate… those on the Intell Committees knew what he said was true, and if he had lied, it would be purjury and he'd be in serious trouble… he did not. He broke Zubaydah w/o torture or “enhanced anything,” and that us to KSM… torture was then applied by CIA contractors who had NEVER been interrogators and KSM and Zubaydah both clamed up… that is a fact. The more you torture, the less info you get that is of any real value, and the more resilient the detainee becomes … and besides, once captured, their intel value drops by about 50% since the enemy, just like we would do – changes plans.

By: 1 Boring Old Man » Hannity’s Special…

1 Boring Old Man » Hannity’s Special… — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:41:19 +0000

[...] [REDACTED]. Those revelations, as former Abu Zubaydah interrogator Ali Soufan has testified, came before Abu Zubaydah was [...]

By: Coleen Rowley

Coleen Rowley — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:48:49 +0000

I know of several FBI agents who can verify what Soufan is saying. It's a shame he and others have felt they had to keep quiet for 7 years.

It's not really fair for anyone to criticize the poor people who were at the bottom of the totem pole without having yourself been in these sick type of “green light” (group think) turned-on situations. Clearly CIA and DOJ Legal Counsels were also going along with orders from higher up in preparing their “golden shield” memos that they believed would protect the little CIA guys (like Kiriakou) who followed the orders as well as their bosses: Cheney, Bush, Addington, Rice, Rumsfeld, etc.

By: Coleen Rowley

Coleen Rowley — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:48:49 +0000

I know of several FBI agents who can verify what Soufan is saying. It's a shame he and others have felt they had to keep quiet for 7 years.

By: Tom Maguire

Tom Maguire — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:30:11 +0000

The torture advocates are lying? Maybe Soufan is lying, too. He writes:

"It is inaccurate, however, to say that Abu Zubaydah had been uncooperative. Along with another F.B.I. agent, and with several C.I.A. officers present, I questioned him from March to June 2002, before the harsh techniques were introduced later in August. Under traditional interrogation methods, he provided us with important actionable intelligence. "

However, the Dept of Justice Inspector general report explains that the CIA was in charge of the interrogation essentially from the outset, that they adopted harsh (but redacted) tactics right away, and the FBI agents were recalled in May and June rather than be involved with those interrogations. Per the DoJ IG, one of the two FBI agents described the CIA approach as "borderline torture", and this was before he left the scene in May or June.

NY Times reporting tells a similar story.

I wonder what the truth is, and whether Soufan misrepresented the facts to thr DoJ IG, or now.