Ali Soufan and the CIA vs. James Mitchell

According to Ali Soufan, the battle lines in the internal debate at the CIA facility where Abu Zubaydah was to be tortured broke down this way: “FBI and CIA all had the same opinion that contradicted with the contractor.” The “contractor” is most likely James Mitchell, a former SERE psychologist. This is the first time Soufan or anyone else has suggested that all the CIA operatives involved in the interrogation rejected torturing Abu Zubaydah — or, at least, using the SERE techniques on him that eventually became the template for his torture, such as waterboarding and the “confinement box” — with only Mitchell advocating for them.

If true, that means senior CIA officials and the Bush administration overruled the very CIA team sent to interrogate Abu Zubaydah, in favor of someone who was never an interrogator, and at least one FBI interrogator who objected loudly to Abu Zubaydah’s torture.