Former CIA Director Says He Tortured People "To Help Them"

Former CIA Director, Jose Rodriguez, says he tortured people "to help them"

On January 29th, 2013, three former top-ranking Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officials spoke at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, to talk about the movie "Zero Dark Thirty", which is a dramatization of the United States operation that found and killed Osama bin Laden.  In the movie there are controversial scenes involving "enhanced interrogation techniques", aka torture, and all three men speaking at this conference had a guiding hand in implementing these policies of torture.  The three men, Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA, John Rizzo, former deputy counsel of the CIA, and Jose Rodriguez, the former director of the National Clandestine Service at the CIA, were taking issue with certain 'inaccuracies' in the film, in regards to the enhanced interrogation techniques, and were trying to justify their own use of torture.  I believe they may be trying to cover their own butts, as there is increased talk worldwide of persecuting members of the Bush administration for war crimes.

One of the most unbelievable justifications for torture, that I have ever heard, came from the former 31-year veteran of the CIA, Jose Rodriguez, who actually seemed to be saying that he used torture to HELP the person being tortured, to RELIEVE them of the pressure of holding back information.  Can you picture what kind of psychopath this man must be?  Rodriguez is able to torture you, and justify it in his mind, that he is helping you!  Insane!  (Sidenote: Video recordings, showing these enhanced interrogation techniques being performed, were ordered destroyed by Rodriguez)

You can watch the whole ninety minute conference, titled, "Watching ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ with the CIA: Separating fact from fiction", yourself (video below), but the clip that I am referring to begins at 17:40 into the event, and I have transcribed the exchange here:

The host, Marc Thiessen, directs his question to Rodriguez:

"If you would, tell the story that you have in your book, about Abu Zubaydah, and what he said to our interrogators, after he was waterboarded"

Rodriguez replies:

"It was interesting because Abu Zubaydah, at one point, finally told us, that we should use, water-boarding, in particular, but the enhanced interrogation program, on all the brothers, and he said it because...the brothers needed to have religious justification, to talk, to provide information, however, they would not be expected by Allah to go beyond their capabilities of resistance.  So once they felt that they were there, they would then become compliant, and provide information.  So he basically recommended to us, that we needed to submit the brothers to this type of procedure if we wanted them to cooperate, as a matter fact, to help them, reach the level where they would become compliant and provide information."

General Michael Hayden then intercedes:

"Yea, in order to do so, without sin"

After a short discourse by General Hayden, attempting to justify his role in torture, Rodriguez comes back:

"In many cases, I believe they were finally relieved that they had reached the point where they felt they could talk"

(Hats off to the good folks at the No Agenda podcast, for their consistency in extraordinary media analysis.)

Related Links:

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-  United States Military Admittedly Detained Over 200 Young Afghan Boys (link)