After the 2002 capture of Abu Zubaydah, a bin Laden deputy, failed to yield much information due to his drowsiness from medical treatment, Bush allegedly told Tenet, "Who authorized putting him on pain medication?and how effective the torture (depicted on the videotapes that were destroyed by the CIA) really was:
So here's what the tapes would have shown: not just that we had brutally tortured an al-Qaeda operative, but that we had brutally tortured an al-Qaeda operative who wasRemember, not only is the torture clearly ineffective, it is morally wrong. Yet the Republican Party, largely populated by people who call themselves Christians, applaud this behavior and conceal it from investigation when they can.This was all prompted by the president of the United States, implemented by the director of the CIA, and the end result was thousands of wasted man hours by intelligence and and law enforcement personnel.
- (a) unimportant and low-ranking,
- (b) mentally unstable,
- (c) had no useful information, and
- (d) eventually spewed out an endless series of worthless, fantastical "confessions" under duress.
Nice trifecta there. And just think: there's an entire political party in this country that still thinks this is OK.
[Bullet points added to increase clarity]
Go read the rest of Kevin's excellent post.
Then go read Larry Johnson's post Torture Tapes on the CIA backstory behind the tapes that were destroyed.
In addition, TPM has been all over the story. Here are some of their recent posts: This should give the flavor of the story. Kevin's post gives the best analysis of why captured al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah was tortured and what the real result of that torture was.
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