The CIA and the US Department of Justice that authorised the secret interrogation programme in the wake of 9/11, euphemistically referred to its content as "enhanced interrogation techniques".

Most people would probably call them "torture", but Jose Rodriguez disputes this term.

He has written a book, "Hard Measures" in which he defends the use of such techniques, and he told me there is no doubt they were effective.

Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged architect of the 2000 attack on the USS Cole in which 17 sailors died, was waterboarded twice, and Abu Zubaydah, Osama Bin Laden's suspected travel agent for jihadis, 83 times.

John Rizzo, the CIA's top legal counsel who oversaw the legalisation of the techniques in an exchange of memoranda with the Department of Justice, wanted to be certain that what was happening at the black site was in accordance with what had been legally agreed.

He had not anticipated that waterboarding would be used as often as it was. And he sent one of his most experienced colleagues to the black site, believed to be in Thailand, to find out.

Rizzo's colleague viewed all the 92 hours of video and concluded that the techniques were being legally applied, but he was uncomfortable about what he saw.

"He did say that portions of the tapes, particularly those of Zubaydah being waterboarded, were extraordinarily hard to watch," Rizzo told me.

"He [Zubaydah] was reacting visibly in a very disturbing way."

"He was experiencing some physical difficulties, I'll just leave it at that... 'tough to watch in places' was his term."

I asked Jose Rodriguez if he had seen the tapes. He said he had not. Was he aware that they showed Abu Zubaydah vomiting and screaming? He said he was not. He checked with his interrogators at the black site who said there was no vomiting or screaming.

"I don't know where you got that from", he said. "I don't know about screaming and vomiting but it's not a pretty sight."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17990955


So this guy, Jose Rodriguez who thinks waterboarding people isn't torture, hasn't even seen the tapes of what he is defending, and those who have said it was hard to even watch.

Sounds like another idiot supporting something he claims to know something about, but when asked specifics, claims didn't know.

If it works, I don't care if some bubble-butt reporter in England thinks waterboarding is "torture."

SORAL:Expert Election Analyst wrote on May 10^th, 2012 at 9:41am:


Thinking must be even harder for the leftists who can't wait to spare enemies of America. Waterboarding is not torture.

duster wrote on May 10^th, 2012 at 9:49am:

Very true. Even boot camp chow is torture compared to waterboarding.