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:

-  Four Torture Victims File Lawsuit Against Canada For Not Arresting President George Bush On His Last Visit (link)

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

United States Military Admittedly Detained Over 200 Young Afghan Boys

In a document released by the United Nations, the United States military has admittedly detained over 200 young Afghan boys, in a military prison next to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, for an average of a year at a time.

In this report, the United States claims "the average age of these individuals has been approximately 16 years old", meaning a good number of these children were under 16 years old.  But Tina M. Foster, executive director of the International Justice Network, which represents adult and juvenile detainees at this prison says she has represented children as young as 11 and 12!  Foster also has believes that the United States may be under-reporting the number of juveniles held at the facility.

Because these teens were never charged with any crime, "a detainee would generally not be provided legal assistance."  Foster says that the teens that are seized are not in uniform or even typically taken in combat.  In the report, the United States even admits that they were "not aware of the age of the children at the point of capture; in nearly all cases their ages were not finally determined until after capture."  The US military can keep these detainees with no charges, or trial, using the excuse "the purpose of detention is not punitive but preventative: to prevent a combatant from returning to the battlefield."

Think about that.  If the United States military didn't know the age of these children before capture, what kind of intelligence did they have?  Was it enough to warrant the tactic of snatching these children from their homes and families?  Can you imagine your child being snatched from the supermarket, and brought to some military prison?  It is happening all the time, being done with your tax money.  Most people won't care until it happens to them, and we suffer because of our selfishness.

I reported last month about how four men that were tortured at a US military base filed a lawsuit against Canada for not arresting President George Bush on his last visit to Canada.  These men were hung from the ceilings and walls, deprived of food and water, and much worse, at the United States' Guantanamo Bay prison.  None of the four men were ever charged with a crime, and three of the four have already been released, while the fourth man, only detained when he was sixteen, is still in Guantanamo and has yet to be charged with a crime.

U.S. Plans On Leaving Up To 15,000 Soldiers In Afghanistan AFTER Withdrawal

General John Allen

The Wall Street Journal reports "Gen. John Allen, the commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, has proposed to keep between 6,000 and 15,000 U.S. troops in the country following the end of combat operations in 2014."

While most people would not consider this a withdrawal, some "military experts", aka shills for the military industrial complex, feel the presence left behind of 15,000 is too little, and we need to leave more!

Kimberly Kagan

Kimberly Kagan, head of The Institute for the Study of War, responded to General John Allen's proposal by saying America needs to more than double Allen's proposed amount of 15,000 soldiers left in Afghanistan, to 34,000 soldiers, to help the military "conduct counterterrorism operations in South Asia."  Kimberly Kagan has worked on various military projects in Iraq and Afghanistan, had supported the troop surge in Iraq in 2007, and has called for expanding the war in Afghanistan.  She is also married to Frederick Kagan, a known Neo-Con, from a family of Neo-Cons.

The Wall Street Journal also reported, in the same article, that there has been complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.  The WSJ doesn't mention the fact that the United States built a new $750 million embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, that still employs 15,000 people.

The amount of money wasted on foreign adventures is ridiculous, and if utilized for a good purpose, could change life drastically, for the better, not only for American citizens, but for the world.

Pittsburgh Police Looking To Charge Local Rappers With Terrorism After They Post An Anti-Police Song On Youtube

Local Pittsburgh news is reporting that rappers from the city made a song "threatening" police and praising convicted cop killer Richard Poplawski. The news report doesn't mention the name of the song or artist, nor does it mention the actual "threats" made to police, but the reason I posted this was because at 1:15 in the video, the news anchor says these rappers could be charged with "terrorism", and sent away to prison "for decades to come".

Last month I documented another case where criminal prosecutors in the Bronx were trying to charge Edgar Morales, an American citizen, as a terrorist, because of a gang related murder he was involved in.

The problem with charging people with terrorism is that the American government has made it very clear as to how they plan to treat terrorists, with bills like The Patriot Act, and the NDAA.  People labeled 'terrorist' will not be allowed even the most basic rights.  You can be indefintely detained with no trial.  You can "disappear".

Sometimes referred to as "domestic terrorism" or "homegrown terrorism", we should all be watching for this trend in domestic law enforcement.

Four Torture Victims File Lawsuit Against Canada For Not Arresting President George Bush On His Last Visit

On November 14th, 2012, four torture survivors filed a complaint against Canada with the United Nations Committee against Torture for the country’s failure to investigate and prosecute former President George W. Bush during his visit to British Columbia last year. (link)

These men were held at Guantánamo Bay, an American military prison operated in Cuba, infamous for their "enhanced interrogation" techniques aka torture.  Barack Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay in 2007, before he was elected President, but has yet to do so.

You have to read the 69 page draft indictment to really get a picture of what these men went through.  Try to imagine being taken from your home in one country, never being told what you are charged with, a bag being put over your head as your flown to a prison in another country, where everyday you are subjected to beatings, being hung from walls or ceilings, sleep, food and water deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, and more.  Your family not knowing anything, worrying what happened to you.

It is important to note that three out of four of these men were, after years, eventually released with no charges, and the fourth man, only detained when he was sixteen, is still in Guantanamo and has yet to be charged with a crime.

Still Celebrating The Re-Election Of Barack Obama? This Child From Pakistan Isn't

"This little boy was named Naeemullah. He was in his house — maybe playing, maybe sleeping, maybe having a meal — when an American drone missile was fired into the residential area where he lived and blew up the house next door.

As Wired reports, shrapnel and debris went flying through the walls of Naeemullah’s house and ripped through his small body. When the attack was over — when the buzzing drone sent with Augustinian wisdom by the Peace Laureate was no longer lurking over the village, shadowing the lives of every defenseless inhabitant with the terrorist threat of imminent death, Naeemullah was taken to the hospital in a nearby town."

If this child had cancer, or diabetes, everyone would be ready to wear ribbons, and run marathons to support him, but WHY then, when he is murdered, with our money, we stay quiet?

What If Trayvon Had Died In A Drone Strike ?

The Young Turks (TYT) has done an interesting piece on the hypocrocy of Obama, drone strikes, and Trayvon Martin.  Check it out.

FBI Frame Another Idiot In Fake Terror Plot To Blow Up Federal Reserve!

Federal authorities tell us that they arrested a 21 year old man from Bangladesh named Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul , Ahsan Nafis on Wednesday October 17, 2012, in a plot to blow up the Federal Reserve Building in Lower Manhattan.  After researching the many recent terror plots foiled by the FBI, I began to notice a pattern; the FBI sets up the whole scenario, even supplying plans and fake weapons.  This new plot is no different.  The FBI admittedly had an "undercover FBI agent posed as an al-Qaida facilitator, supplying him (Nafis) with 20 50-pound bags of what he thought were explosives to use in building his bomb...Prosecutors say Nafis met the agent Wednesday morning and put the bomb inside a van before driving to the Fed building, assembling the detonator while he drove."

If the FBI had this guy make a terrorist threat, why didn't they arrest him right there?  Probably because they knew there was no evidence to suggest that Nafis was anywhere near capable to commit this kind of act. 

Bottom line is, we were never in danger, but the FBI and the media report it as if you we were.  Their goal is to keep us in fear, we are more easily managed that way.  

Here is the link to the ABC News Article. 

Mitt Romney, The Chicken Hawk

I first heard of the term "chicken hawk" used by Governor Jesse Ventura to describe those politicians that are always calling for war, but are not willing to fight in a war or too chicken to have ever fought.  Chicken hawk is a perfect term for Governor Mitt Romney.  As he attempts to win the presidency, he touts his eager willingness to expand the United States military presence throughout the world, as one of his best assets.  Whether it is being in Iraq, Afghanistan, attacking Iran, or aiding the rebels in Syria, Mitt Romney believes the United States has a duty to be involved in other nations conflicts.
But what does Mitt Romney know about war ? Unlike Governor Jesse Ventura, Governor Mitt Romney has never served in the military.  While Governor Ventura was in Vietnam, Governor Romney was back home vehemently supporting the war, but at the same time dodging the draft, and getting more than one deferment.
So he thinks like most elites, war is good for making money and bringing change, but never will I, or any of my family, fight in it.  The elite believe war is for the peasants to fight.  Take a look at old photos of Mitt Romney at Stanford, protesting the people who are protesting the Vietnam war.  Here is the link to the New York Times discussing Mitt Romney's pro-war Stanford days, with more pictures.