'I Could Have Stopped Them': Ex-CIA Lawyer Defends Waterboarding Decision

[unhappycamper]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/former-cia-lawyer-rizzo-defends-waterboarding-decision-a-986087.html



In an interview, former top CIA lawyer John Rizzo says the US' waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation methods" for terror suspects had "deep trouble" written all over them. But he doesn't regret his decision to approve the measures.

'I Could Have Stopped Them': Ex-CIA Lawyer Defends Waterboarding Decision
Interview Conducted by Holger Stark
August 20, 2014 – 02:27 PM

~snip~

SPIEGEL: Mr. Rizzo, what went through your mind when President Obama casually said recently, "We tortured some folks"?

Rizzo: I was startled to hear the president use such a breezy word like "folks" to describe hardened mass murderers of Americans. As for the president's use of the word "torture" to characterize the CIA interrogation program, I was not really surprised. He said much the same thing on numerous occasions dating back to his 2008 campaign. What did surprise me, in a good way, is that Obama went on to point out that the people who first conceived and carried out the program in the wake of 9/11 were under tremendous pressure to protect the country at a time of national crisis. He even called us patriots.

~snip~

SPIEGEL: What do you think was responsible for his shift in thinking?

Rizzo: When Obama came into the White House, he reviewed the operations, found them all to be effective and valuable. Every US president fairly quickly comes to really value having the CIA at his disposal. The CIA reports directly to the president and responds to his wishes. It does what it does in secret, with no messy political debates. In Obama's case, I think he recognized it almost immediately. Take the attack in Abbottabad, Pakistan against Osama bin Laden. It was led by the CIA, not the military. That speaks volumes about the confidence the president had in the agency. Now we have this ongoing debate about the drone program and whether it should be transferred to the military. You can see there is a reluctance to do that -- not just in the Obama administration, but also by Congress.

[Gothmog]

1. The lawyers who approved these procedures are an embarrassment to the profession

I am sad that a member of the bar would approve these actions

[bemildred]

2. Weasel weasel weasel.

What a bullshitter.