Ex-CIA agent: Waterboarding 'saved lives'
Story Highlights
-John Kiriakou says he questioned al Qaeda supsect but didn't waterboard him
-Abu Zubayda reportedly said after waterboarding that Allah told him to talk
-Kiriakou: Suspect gave up information on al Qaeda, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
-Kiriakou: Tapes of Abu Zubayda's interrogation should not have been destroyed
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/11/agent.tapes/NEW YORK (CNN) -- A former CIA agent who participated in interrogations of terror suspects said Tuesday that the controversial interrogation technique of "waterboarding" has saved lives, but he considers the method torture and now opposes its use.
<<snip>>
"There is a bladder, or a water source, above the head with water pouring down on the mouth, so no water is going into your mouth, but it induces a gag reflex and makes you feel like you're choking," Kiriakou said. Watch the ex-agent describe the procedure »
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/11/agent.tapes/#cnnSTCVideo<<snip>>
The former agent, who said he participated in the Abu Zubayda interrogation but not his waterboarding, said the CIA decided to waterboard the al Qaeda operative only after he was "wholly uncooperative" for weeks and refused to answer questions.
All that changed -- and Zubayda reportedly had a divine revelation -- after 30 to 35 seconds of waterboarding, Kiriakou said he learned from the CIA agents who performed the technique.
<<snip>>
In a separate CNN interview, Kiriakou said the Justice Department and National Security Council reportedly approved waterboarding and other "alternative" interrogation techniques in June 2002.
"It was a policy decision that came down from the White House," he said.
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