Torture tapes-"React As Skeptically As You Would To The Death Of A Marvel Supervillain"

[kpete]

Monday, December 10, 2007
Torture tapes
When the CIA tells you that a piece of evidence has been destroyed, you should react as skeptically as you would to the death of a Marvel supervillain.

.................

According to Jon Ponder on BradBlog, http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5420 a federal prosecutor reports the continued existence of either the same tapes or similar ones.

Charles Rosenberg, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, wrote that his office viewed two videotapes of CIA interrogations of al-Qaida suspects as recently as September 19 and October 18 of this year --- contrary to Hayden's statement that the tapes were destroyed in 2005.

Larry Johnson http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2007/dec/07/torture_tapes compares the alleged destruction of these torture tapes to the "family jewels" -- a catch-all term for high-level CIA misdeeds uncovered in the 1970s. The most notorious of these "jewels" was the Agency's MKULTRA program. Richard Helms told both Congress and the CIA Inspector General that he ordered the destruction of all the voluminous documentation created by this massively-funded, cutting-edge research project. That statement was a lie. Those documents still exist.

So do the "nonexistent" interrogation tapes. Bank on it.

Added note: Here's an interesting response from "canuckjournalist," one of Larisa's readers:
http://www.atlargely.com/2007/12/i-ask-again-whe.html

I did research for Gerald Posner a couple of years ago; my best guess is that if he didn't see those tapes, he had viva voce evidence from an eyewitness who did.

As an old intelligence reporter (CBC and Globe and Mail, Toronto), my best theory here is that it's the Saudis who're being protected here. It's not beyond the realm of possibility---it's even likely---that Saudi intelligence officers were in on the Zubaydeh torture sessions.

Those faces or accents would give the game away and reveal the depth of Bush administration complicity with the Saudis, eg, the Jedda 'visa express'/9-11 attack team misidentification; the 'escape flights' to Riyadh after 9/11; the serial murder/suicides of the Saudi princes...and that doesn't begin to address Pakistani/ISI complicity.

more at:
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2007/12/torture-tapes.html

[bunkerbuster1]

1. I just assume the video files were backed up in lots of places

and the people who claimed they'd scrubbed the 'puters and hard drives probably kept copies to use as bargaining chips down the road.

They're no more "erased" than those emails the White House conveniently lost.

[TalkingDog]

2. Bingo! You win the stuffed Duckie!

Only a complete novice or idiot would participate in those kind of activities without a little "backup insurance".

My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[malaise]

3. But, but but

people have forgotten the explosive NIE report -mission accomplished!!!

[aquart]

4. What murder/suicides of Saudi princes?

I tried Google but couldn't get a link to anything but suicide bombings. How do I look for that?

[Nickster]

5. Basically, just from memory, there were 4 princes involved and three of them died of "natural causes

" the only one left is Al-Turki, the intelligence chief who replaced Bandar Bush.

[aquart]

6. Ah, tradition lives.

Fascinating. Fratricide used to be a normal function of kingship. Get the throne, murder your rivals. In harem-having families, that could be very bloody indeed.

[BlueIris]

7. Hee. Thanks for brining my beloved Joe Cannon back here.

Everyone—go read Joe's blog!!!

[mopinko]

8. another way we are like the nazis

carefully documenting our crimes. at least all might become known in 50 years or so. 100. at the trials. somehow. :shrug: :banghead: