emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/04/18/khalid-sheikh-mohammed-was-waterboarded-183-times-in-one-month -> emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/04/18/khalid-sheikh-mohammed-was-waterboarded-183-times-in-one-month/
May 30, 2005 Bradbury memo, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times in March 2003 and Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times in August 2002. On page 37 of the OLC memo, in a passage discussing the differences between SERE techniques and the torture used with detainees, the memo explains: The CIA used the waterboard "at least 83 times during August 2002" in the interrogation of Zubaydah. IG Report at 90, and 183 times during March 2003 in the interrogation of KSM, see id.
CIA IG report which, in the case of Abu Zubaydah, is based on having viewed the torture tapes as well as other materials. So this is presumably a number that was once backed up by video evidence. The same OLC memo passage explains how the CIA might manage to waterboard these men so many times in one month each (though even with these chilling numbers, the CIA's math doesn't add up). where authorized, it may be used for two "sessions" per day of up to two hours. During a session, water may be applied up to six times for ten seconds or longer (but never more than 40 seconds). In a 24-hour period, a detainee may be subjected to up to twelve minutes of water appliaction. Additionally, the waterboard may be used on as many as five days during a 30-day approval period. So: two two-hour sessions a day, with six applications of the waterboard each = 12 applications in a day. Though to get up to the permitted 12 minutes of waterboarding in a day (with each use of the waterboard limited to 40 seconds), you'd need 18 applications in a day. Assuming you use the larger 18 applications in one 24-hour period, and do 18 applications on five days within a month, you've waterboarded 90 times--still just half of what they did to KSM. The CIA wants you to believe waterboarding is effective. Yet somehow, it took them 183 applications of the waterboard in a one month period to get what they claimed was cooperation out of KSM.
reveal that the interrogators who waterboarded these men went far beyond even the expansive guidelines for torture described in the Bybee Memo, notably by dumping water onto their nose and mouth, rather than dribbing it on. The IG Report noted that in some cases the waterboard was used with far greater frequency than initially indicated, see IG Report at 5, 44, 46, 103-04, and also that it was used in a different manner.
was different from the technique described in the DoJ opinion and used in the SERE training. The difference was the manner in which the detainee's breathing was obstructed. At the SERE school and in the DoJ opinion, the subject's airflow is disrupted by the firm application of a damp cloth over the air passages; the interrogator applies a small amount of water to the cloth in a controlled manner. applied large volumes of water to a cloth that covered the detainee's mouth and nose.
There's been a lot of discussion about whether those who did what the OLC memos authorized should be prosecuted. But in the case of those who waterboarded KSM and Abu Zubaydah, that's irrelevant, because they did things the OLC memos didn't authorize.
Let's not forget the hormonal overload from the related panic and stress from being drowned and brought back six times a day for a month. Nerve cells are, of course, the first to die owing to lack of oxygen. Waterboarding involves holding your breath as long as possible, while water is poured over or into your face, mouth and nostrils. When you can no longer resist the impulse to breath, you inhale - water - which extends the time the body is without oxygen. This man was drowned, and brought back, six times a day for a month. What would the mind do in order to escape the pain and panic? How likely is that to meet the torture definition of enduring physical or mental pain or suffering? The repeated torture was an experiment, like the Nazis in their death camps; or the interrogators were more afraid of their political masters than the ultimate reach of the law. Mr Obama has taken the superficial course of trying to fix corrupt banks by improving only the market's perception of them (at enormous expense), not by re-regulating them and excising the corruption. He is doing something similar with regard to his predecessor's political corruption. He insists that criminal consequences for criminal behavior is undeserved vengeance, not just punishment (the real meaning of "retribution").
WilliamOckham @ 1 Yeah, I agree-no doubt one of the innovations brought in after CIA actually consulted with their own doctors. Sort of like lowering the sleep deprivation limits from 11 days to 75 Progress, dontcha know?
Secondly, not only do their numbers not add up, as you suggest, but there is not a lot of basis for believing they restricted their activity to even that which was disclosed in the tapes (before they were destroyed) and/or the activity logs. Remember how abu Gharaib was just a few bad acts by a couple of rotten apples? And they only waterboarded KSM in March of 2003 and no other times? Also, let's not lose track of the fact that they openly and brazenly combined their modalities of torture; it's not like these guys caught a sandwich and a nap in between sessions. I would like someone to explain to me how what the Bush Administration did to Iraqis and other middle easterners is any different than what Sadaam Hussein did. I'll bet a decent tally would show that the number of unnecessary deaths was as about as large from our years in Iraq as it was from Hussein.
The Bushies had a "reunion" this week to strategize about how to preserve his "legacy" that he is so worried about. I have to wonder if the timing of the release of the memos was partly to help ensure that his "legacy" continues to be a source of concern for both him and the people who supported him -- and also send a warning not to get to wrapped up in trying to spin a different reality. Regardless, the revelations that have come out certainly prove that Bush permitted (and even encouraged) torture -- and the populace at large should be disgusted!
Eight Lessons of Torture": 4 Torture has a corrupting effect on the perpetrator The relationship between the victim and the torturer is highly intimate, even if one-sided. It is filled with stress for the interrogator, balancing the job with the moral and ethical values of a person with family and friends. One way this cognitive dissonance is managed is through a group process that dehumanizes the victim. But still another way is to insure that some sort of confession is obtained to justify to the interrogator and to his superiors that pain and suffering was validly used. From what we're seeing, I'd say both methods of managing the cognitive dissonance were at work here. The messages from above were clear and consistent that those being held at Gitmo were somehow less than human. Similarly, the pressure from above was clear and consistent that nothing short of a confession was acceptable. I wonder how these interrogators are doing these days, looking back on their handiwork.
Peterr @ 8 Plus they screened certain personnel for just that eventuality: The CIA dispatched personnel from its office of medical services to each secret prison and evaluated medical professionals involved in interrogations "to make sure they could stand up, psychologically handle it," according to a former CIA official.
id=topnews And here's a description from Today's Times of the effect on CIA personnel forced to witness torture: Abu Zubaydah had provided much valuable information under less severe treatment, and the harsher handling produced no breakthroughs, according to one former intelligence official with direct knowledge of the case. Instead, watching his torment caused great distress to his captors, the official said. Even for those who believed that brutal treatment could produce results, the official said, "seeing these depths of human misery and degradation has a traumatic effect."
If they KNEW to carefully screen personnel from the office of medical services - they MUST have known that witnessing torture would potentially cause CIA personnel to break down. If they knew the torture monitors and designers might break down, they KNEW this was c...
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