also by acquarius74
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Before I Begin I have to give credit to acquarius74 who asked me to write a diary based on this interview

The story is a stunning recount of the events leading to Chaney’s policies that created his house of pain.

It’s the story of one of the finest, most respected FBI agents in the bureau and his tale will leave you quacking in anger;

I don’t care much for the title, ‘We Could Have Done This the Right Way’ which would have been more accurate had it been titled;

"we would have gotten more information if we did it the right way"

In any event his story abridged by yours truly with my annotation;

The agent, Ali Soufan, was known as one of the bureau’s top experts on Al Qaeda. He also had a reputation as a shrewd interrogator who could work fluently in both English and Arabic. Soufan yelled at one CIA contractor and told him that what he was doing was wrong, ineffective and an affront to American values

Notice please my bold, he yelled at "a CIA contractor"

excuse me, there are NO "CIA contractors" there are CIA agents

"contractors" work for private firms employed by our government, NOT by the "CIA", the CIA might be a broker for that contract but they are NOT "employed" by an agency they are employed by the government

the story continues;

Abu Zubaydah, was handcuffed to a gurney. He had been wounded during his capture in Pakistan and still had bullet fragments in his stomach, leg and groin. Agency operatives were aiming to crack him with rough and unorthodox interrogation tactics—including stripping him nude, turning down the temperature and bombarding him with loud music.

these are far from the most of it as we found out from later expose and Soufan hints at other methods, for instance discovering a wooden box as small as a coffin used for some of these "harsh tactics"

Soufan goes ballistic and calls his lead;

" [Soufan] erupted in anger, got on a secure phone line and called Pasquale D’Amuro, then the FBI assistant director for counterterrorism. "I swear to God," he shouted, "I’m going to arrest these guys!"

note

"these guys" are"contractors", NOT CIA, two Completely different animals

Soufan is not alone in the agency;

They fretted about the political consequences of abusive interrogations and the Washington blowback they thought was inevitable, say two high-ranking FBI sources who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters

so the entire FBI understands the implications;

According to a later Justice Department inspector general’s report, D’Amuro warned FBI Director Bob Mueller that such activities would eventually be investigated. "Someday, people are going to be sitting in front of green felt tables having to testify about all of this,"

prescient, let’s hope we get some REAL accountability

this is where the FBI make a huge error in judgment

Mueller ordered Soufan and a second FBI agent home. He then directed that bureau personnel no longer participate in CIA interrogations.

BIG mistake, the FBI was obligated to take this higher and get direct confirmation from the administration that this was approved. (maybe they did, or, probably they did and that’s why they left without arresting the perpetrators)

It’s BECAUSE of the FBI report the president proceeds creating cover for his crimes;

Three months later, on Aug. 1, 2002, Justice lawyers issued a chilling memo blessing everything the CIA contractors had proposed—including waterboarding, or simulated drowning, a ghoulish technique that was administered to Abu Zubaydah 83 times.

NOTICE AGAIN, the "CIA contractors", NOT the CIA

THIS IS CHENEY’S TEAM B, make NO mistake about that, the professionals in the CIA KNEW with NO DOUBT they were creating MORE issues then they could POSSIBLY solve

here’s where the piece gets it WAY wrong, notice my bold;

This was a decisive moment in the campaign against Al Qaeda—the point at which, in the eyes of many critics, the Bush administration took a fateful step away from the rule of law.

excuse me

they "took a step away from the rule of law" when they decided to attack Iraq for what came from Afghanistan, that would be exactly three minutes after 9/11

Cheney "stepped away from the rule of law" long ago, even before he lied us into Iraq with his "team b", he did the same thing to undermine Nixon’s treaty of détente, WITH the SAME players, INCLUDING Rumsfeld (big surprise)

his "team b" manufactured false data to undermine détente, his SAME team did the SAME thing to get us into Iraq

the CIA KNEW there was no AL Qaeda-Saddam link but Cheney needed to manufacture one, therefore, "CIA contractors" to "extrude" testimony through torture

the writer in the piece gives FAR too much quarter to the administration with this nescient take;

The administration, believing it faced an extraordinary threat that justified extreme measures, shifted toward what former vice president Dick Cheney once grimly called "the dark side."

let me correct that statement to give it more accuracy;

The administration, believing they could now proceed with the plans they had long before the attack, now given the opportunity of an extraordinary threat, they could justify extreme measures and shift toward what former vice president Dick Cheney fantasized grimly calling it "the dark side."

there, I fixed it for him

check out this dialog Seufan relives;

The confrontations began. "I asked [the contractor] if he’d ever interrogated anyone, and he said no,"

of COURSE he said no, because IF he’d ever interrogated anyone he would have KNOWN you WASTE finite assets, you are sent on USELESS tips and you LOOSE information that MIGHT have saved lives

and now for the real killer, the elephant in the room, the path we MUST pursue;

"I would love to tell my story." But then he added, "I have signed a nondisclosure agreement that will not even allow me to correct false allegations."

this "agreement" is with the government, he risks pain of prosecution, pain of being declared an enemy combatant, pain of "harsh interrogations" if he discloses the information the previous administration called "secure"

this article is a must read, please don’t use my annotation as an excuse to miss the article