Rose quotes a Pentagon analyst who read the transcripts from the interrogation: \u201cAbu Zubaydah was saying Iraq and Al-Qaeda had an operational relationship. It was everything the administration hoped it would be.\u201d That analyst did not then know that the evidence was procured through torture. \u201cAs soon as I learnt that the reports had come from torture, once my anger had subsided I understood the damage it had done,\u201d the analyst says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
We still have memos and a bureaucratic paper trail. But we don\u2019t have the tapes of those torture sessions which were destroyed \u2013 yes this is a Hollywood movie \u2013 by the CIA.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Note the double stupidity: Zubaydah had already given up tons of information via normal, humane interrogation methods. But the Administration wanted that connection between Saddam and Al-Quaeda, whether it existed or not\u2013and they got it.<\/p>\n
This is part of why the argument \u201cSince the victim is in charge of how many times he is tortured, waterboarding somebody 183 times must not be torture\u201d is so preternaturally stupid. It turns out (surprise!) that the torturer is in charge, not the victim. And part of the reason he tortures is very often to get the prisoner to say what he wants to hear, not what is actually true.<\/p>\n
Funny thing: we also tortured another guy named Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi<\/a> for a similar confession. What became of him?
Golly, it\u2019s the strangest thing: a guy who\u2019s testimony could assist in prosecuting war criminals \u201cwent missing\u201d even though he was in CIA custody\u2013till he turned up dead yesterday in a Libyan jail, an apparent \u201csuicide\u201d.<\/p>\nFor this, the prolife movement is selling its soul. It sends you to hell *and* it gives you disastrously worthless crap for intel besides.<\/p>\n
To get the man\u2019s soul and give him nothing <\/em>in return \u2014 that is what really gladdens Our Father\u2019s heart.\u201d \u2013 Uncle Screwtape<\/p>\nOf course, somebody will point me to Obama\u2019s remarks suggesting that \u201csome\u201d useful intel was gotten by torture, so there! Prescinding from the fact that it is incredible and disgusting to watch prolifers suddenly turn to Obama(!) as a paragon of consequentialist moral reasoning, I simply reply that the odds are not entirely against finding an occasional penny if you hold your breath, dive into enough overflowing septic tanks and grope around down there. But sensible people realize that there are better and more cost-effective ways to get the job done.<\/p>\n