[Marxism] CIA Chief to Drag White House into Torture Cover-Up Storm

[Greg McDonald <sabocat59@xxxxxxx>]

Published on Monday, December 24, 2007 by Times Online/UK
CIA Chief to Drag White House Into Torture Cover-Up Storm
by Sarah Baxter

The CIA chief who ordered the destruction of secret videotapes  
recording the harsh interrogation of two top Al-Qaeda suspects has  
indicated he may seek immunity from prosecution in exchange for  
testifying before the House intelligence committee.

Jose Rodriguez, former head of the CIA’s clandestine service, is  
determined not to become the fall guy in the controversy over the  
CIA’s use of torture, according to intelligence sources.

It has emerged that at least four White House staff were approached  
for advice about the tapes, including David Addington, a senior aide  
to Dick Cheney, the vice-president, but none has admitted to  
recommending their destruction.

Vincent Cannistraro, former head of counterterrorism at the CIA, said  
it was impossible for Rodriguez to have acted on his own: “If  
everybody was against the decision, why in the world would Jose  
Rodriguez - one of the most cautious men I have ever met - have gone  
ahead and destroyed them?”

The tapes recorded the interrogations of Abu Zubaydah and Abd al- 
Rahim al-Nashiri, two suspected Al-Qaeda leaders, over hundreds of  
hours while they were held in secret “ghost” prisons. According to  
testimony from a former CIA officer, Zubaydah was subjected to  
waterboarding, a form of torture that simulates drowning, and “broke”  
after 35 seconds. He is believed to have been interrogated in  
Thailand. The tapes were destroyed in 2005. Both men are now held in  
Guantanamo Bay.

The House intelligence committee has subpoenaed Rodriguez to appear  
for a hearing on January 16. Last week the CIA began opening its  
files to congressional investigators. Silvestre Reyes, a Democrat who  
is chairing the committee, has said he was “not looking for  
scapegoats” - a hint to Rodriguez that he would like him to talk.

Larry Johnson, a former CIA officer, believes the scandal could reach  
deep into the White House. “The CIA and Jose Rodriguez look bad, but  
he’s probably the least culpable person in the process. He didn’t  
wake up one day and decide, ‘I’m going to destroy these tapes.’ He  
checked with a lot of people and eventually he is going to get his say.”

Johnson says Rodriguez got his fingers burnt during the Iran-contra  
scandal while working for the CIA in Latin America in the 1980s. Even  
then he sought authorisation from senior officials. But when summoned  
to the FBI for questioning, he was told Iran-contra was “political -  
get your own lawyer”.

He learnt his lesson and recently appointed Robert Bennett, one of  
Washington’s most skilled lawyers, to handle the case of the  
destroyed interrogation tapes. “He has been starting to get his story  
out and was smart to get Bennett,” said Johnson.

The Justice Department has launched its own inquiry into the  
destruction of the tapes. It emerged yesterday that the CIA had  
misled members of the 9-11 Commission by not disclosing the existence  
of the tapes, in potential violation of the law. President George W  
Bush said last week he could not recall learning about the tapes  
before being briefed about them on December 6 by Michael Hayden, the  
CIA director.

“It looks increasingly as though the decision was made by the White  
House,” said Johnson. He believes it is “highly likely” that Bush saw  
one of the videos, as he was interested in Zubaydah’s case and  
received frequent updates on his interrogation from George Tenet, the  
CIA director at the time.

It has emerged that the CIA did preserve two videotapes and an  
audiotape of detainee interrogations conducted by a foreign  
government, which may have been relevant to the trial of Zacarias  
Moussaoui, the Al-Qaeda conspirator.

The CIA told a federal judge in 2003 that no such recordings existed  
but has now retracted that testimony. One of the tapes could show the  
interrogation of Ramzi Binalshibh, a September 11 conspirator, who  
was allegedly handed to Jordan for questioning.



© 2007 The Times Online
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