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Al-Qahtani Should Be [REDACTED].
The fact that someone in the FBI submitted a proposal to have Mohamed Al-Qahtani, subjected to similar techniques as those that had been used on Abu Zubaydah was summarized in the initial part of the FBI IG report.
Later on, the IG gets into the details, including parts of a draft of the proposal that he was able to secure -- although the identity of the FBI official who submitted the proposal apparently remains unknown, even to the IG. The draft proposal states: "It is firmly believed that AL-QATANI traveled to the U.S. in 2001 for the purposes of committing or supporting a terrorist act. It is further believed that AL-QATANI possesses critical intelligence regarding the identification of individuals also involved in planning, supporting, or committing terrorist acts against U.S. interests."
The draft further states that while "some progress has been made" with al-Qahtani, that "[redacted] being used with subjects including Abu Zabaida [redacted] could greatly enhance [al-Qahtani's] productivity."
What the FBI official who drafted the report actually thought would be done, or wanted to be done to al-Qahtani is redacted, quite dramatically:
The IG states that the FBI officials familiar with the proposal did not know "specifically what interrogation techniques would be involved." Why is this part redacted then?
The IG believes the document was circled around the fall of 2002 or early 2003. It would then follow pretty closely on the heels of John Yoo's August 2002 memo giving the CIA legal sanction to torture Abu Zubaydah. The corruption of torture spread quickly.
-- A. Serwer
COMMENTS (4)
David Addington got all squirmy when people in HJC asked him if he had shown anyone at Gitmo the Bybee Two memo.
Posted by: emptywheel | November 3, 2009 11:52 AM
The IG states that the FBI officials familiar with the proposal did not know "specifically what interrogation techniques would be involved." Why is this part redacted then?
Because it says something like "made to rue the day he was born," or "tortured to within an inch of his life," which could then legalistically be viewed as not mentioning specific techniques.
Posted by: Sammy | November 3, 2009 1:00 PM
thnx
Posted by: sesli sohbet | November 6, 2009 7:47 AM
Anyone who has read the news knows that this was not the majority FBI view. The top Arabic specialist/agent testified to Congress that he strenuously argued to continue standard interrogation techniques on Abu Zabaydah, but had the CIA take over with 'enhanced' techniques instead.
Posted by: John_Haversock | November 17, 2009 10:47 AM