Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 17 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 12/12/15

AUDIO: Robert Scheer Hosts John Kiriakou -- A Whistleblower on Torture

By       (Page 15 of 21 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page.   No comments
Message Robert Scheer
Become a Fan
  (26 fans)

RS: Now, you've changed your position on that, I noticed.

JK: I have. You know, I tried, in 2007 when I went on ABC News, I tried to --

RS: First of all, put us there. You -- what happened before, how did you get to ABC --

JK: Well, Brian Ross called me. Brian Ross of ABC News called me and said that he had a source who said that I had tortured Abu Zubaydah. I said that was absolutely untrue.

RS: And at this point you were working for John Kerry?

JK: No, I was working for Deloitte and Touche, a Big Four accounting firm. I said that was absolutely untrue, I had never tortured Abu Zubaydah or any other prisoner; I was the only person who was kind to Abu Zubaydah. And he said, well, you're welcome to come on the show and defend yourself. So I said I'd think about it. In the meantime, President Bush gave a press conference in which he looked directly into the camera and said, "We do not torture." And I knew that that was a lie. And a couple of days later, he told another reporter --

RS: Can I just interrupt? How did you know it was a lie?

JK: Because I knew we were torturing prisoners. I was in headquarters -- I was the executive assistant to the deputy director for operations. I was seeing all the cable traffic coming back, not just saying we're torturing, but saying in very, very clear detail -- this is exactly what we're doing to torture these prisoners. So a couple of days later --

RS: So all of the high command in the CIA would have known that.

JK: It was their idea. They came up with it.

RS: What were the names of --

JK: Oh, we're talking about George Tenet, and John McLaughlin, and Jose Rodriguez; several who are still undercover. John Rizzo -- I mean, the fix was in --

RS: George Tenet, who wrote a whole book sort of justifying --

JK: Certainly. This is his legacy. He's going to spend the rest of his life trying to justify this. He'll never come clean.

RS: OK, so you're called to, you go on ABC.

JK: So I go on ABC, and I had decided in the days before the interview that no matter what he asked me, I was going to tell the truth. And so I said three things that night that utterly changed the course of my life. I said we were torturing prisoners; I said torture was official U.S. government policy; and I said the policy was approved by and signed by the president himself. And within 24 hours the FBI began investigating me. Now, interestingly enough, a year later at the very end of the Bush administration, the Justice Department decided that I had not committed a crime, and they closed the investigation. Three months later, the new attorney general Eric Holder ordered that the investigation be reopened. And so they reopened it, and they were able to manufacture five felony charges against me. So you know, I make a point about the Espionage Act all the time; between the time that the Espionage Act was written in 1917 until Barack Obama's election, three people in American history were charged with espionage for passing classified information to the press. Three people in American history. During the Obama administration, ten people have been charged with espionage for passing information to the press. It's an irrational obsession with leaks; it's an obsession with secrecy and with classification, and it shows a very disturbing willingness to use the Espionage Act, one of the gravest crimes an American can be charged with, using it as a political weapon.

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |  10  |  11  |  12  |  13  |  14  |  15  |  16  |  17  |  18  |  19  |  20  |  21

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Robert Scheer Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Robert Scheer is editor in chief of the progressive Internet site Truthdig. He has built a reputation for strong social and political writing over his 30 years as a journalist. He conducted the famous Playboy magazine interview in which Jimmy (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Christopher Hitchens: Reason in Revolt

The Peasants Need Pitchforks

Robert Scheer Hosts Dennis Kucinich -- an Unpredictable American Original

Obama Pulls a Clinton

Geithner and Goldman, Thick as Thieves

How Little We Know About the Origins of 9/11

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend