Declassified Cables Show CIA Director Gina Haspel Directly Oversaw Torture
National Security Archive Cables
Haspel Cables
Though much of the Haspel Cables are heavily redacted, particularly the names of the agents involved, it's possible to identify those who's names are withheld in the cables by cross-referencing and comparing information about the Cobalt site already available in the public sphere. As head of the black site in Thailand, Haspel would have written or authorized the cables
The roles of the two psychologists hired by the CIA to run the torture program and administer the waterboarding, James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, have been established previously in declassified reports one of which being the 2004 CIA Inspector General's Report. During the period of November 15th to December 4th, 2002 both psychologists were involved in the waterboarding of Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri at the Thai black site.
Current CIA director Gina Haspel described graphic acts of deliberate physical torture including the waterboarding of a suspected Al-Qa’ida terrorist under her supervision when she was chief of base at a CIA black site in Thailand in 2002, according to declassified CIA cables – most of which she wrote or authorized – obtained by the National Security Archive through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and posted on the Web today.
The Haspel cables detail conditions the public has only seen in the infamous Abu Ghraib photographs from Iraq of detainees hooded and shackled, forced nudity, wall slamming, and box confinement, as well as “enhanced techniques” never photographed such as the simulated drowning of suspects on the waterboard. Waterboarding is a war crime under both U.S. and international law, dating back to U.S. prosecution of Japanese solders for torturing U.S. POWs during World War II.
nsarchive.gwu.edu
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The Experienced "HVTI Psychologists" are Mitchell and Jenssen who waterboarded Abu Zubaydah 83 times.
It was Gina Haspel that ordered the video tape evidence of Zubaydah's torture destroyed.
Though the name is redacted in the Haspel cables, in a separate disclosure by the CIA resulting from the Salim v. Mitchell case brought by the ACLU, J. Mitchell is described as the "HTVI" psychologist" who traveled with Nashiri on a the rendition flight and administered the initial assessment report on the detainee detailed in the above document.
James Mitchell (above)
The biggest mystery in the released cables is whether Gina Haspel wrote Cable 11359, from December 1, 2002, which uses remarkably vivid language to describe the torture sessions: The interrogators “strode, catlike, into the well-lit confines of the cell at 0902 hrs [redacted], deftly removed the subject’s black hood with a swipe, paused, and in a deep, measured voice said that subject – having ‘calmed down’ after his (staged) run-in with his hulking, heavily muscled guards the previous day – should reveal what subject had done to vex his guards to the point of rage.”
TheDailyBeast
Torture Director
Former CIA counterterrorism officer and whistleblower on torture, John Kiriakou, has stated that Gina Haspel was known by many in the agency as "Bloody Gina" because of her penchant for aggressive, harsh and abusive tactics.
In an article for Truthdig.org earlier this year, Kiriakou explains how the appointment of Haspel as Director of the CIA conveys underlining implications.
Haspel’s appointment as CIA director is wrong for a number of reasons. First, just imagine the message this sends to the CIA workforce: Engage in whatever war crimes or crimes against humanity you want, and there won’t be any repercussions. Don’t worry about ethics. Don’t worry about morality. We’ll cover for you. And you can destroy the evidence, too.
Truthdig.org
Kiriakou concludes that Haspel should be tried for war crimes for her role in the torture program rather than being given the keys to the kingdom as CIA director.
Former CIA agent Ray McGovern echoes the sentiment adding that members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Chair Burr and Vice Chair Warner knew of the details concerning Haspel's time at Cobalt but turned a blind eye during the confirmation process. This extends to the 'Intelligence Community' that threw their unwavering support behind Hapel's candidacy: Brennan, Clapper, Hayden, etc.
Recap
- CIA Director Oversaw Torture
- CIA Director ordered destruction of torture evidence
- CIA promotes torturers
- CIA and Intel Community full of lying liars that back torture and torturers
- CIA ran rendition program and black sites
- CIA policy promotes terrorism worldwide
- CIA Redacts everything
- CIA classified, blah blah - national security
Thanks for sharing this news @v4vapid, and something tells me the atrocities committed go a lot further than what they've released here. She definitely needs to be tried for war crimes, but the promotion is unsurprising. Just the right kind of woman for the job, she's proven it.
Touchez, excellent point. She sure has proven herself worthy of the title.
Staggering how these war criminals just keep getting away with it. Promoted instead of prosecuted. Blatant even to the point where she gave the order to destroy evidence, when a court ordered it preserved. Rep or Dem, these cockroaches of the deep state are above the law, and continue to thrive.
With all the heavily inked redactions that get released, the documents themselves should be called black sites. It's quite obvious how absurd the documents themselves are, and how they are written AFTER the decision and the actual torture occurs, to completely fit the narrative and justify any means possible undertaken during the process, with the blessing of those at the very top. As Lyndsay says, the public only get to hear about the tip of the iceberg. Just enough to keep the tension and justification for the war on terror to continue unabated for those in the prime positions within the Intelligence communities.
Great work V.
Agree. That's the worst part about their systematic torture program (else than the human suffering and cruelty), they are actually engineering what they purport to combat, and there is no way possible they can be completely blind to the simple fact that violence usually generates more violence, not appeasement. Not to even mention their habits of putting weapons into the hands of the worst of people times and times again. It's the perfect cocktail for more worldwide terrorism.
I suspect their activities are not solely taking place on foreign soil sadly. I believe that much of what gets classified for "national security" is to cover up their evil deeds.
I don't understand why this is news. When you catch a terrorist you torture them in order to extract whatever information you can. Time is normally of the essence to save lives and it shouldn't matter what methods are used. Possibly the public or maybe even friends and family members could be saved by these tactics. You would complain if someone you loved or new was killed due to them not extracting the information. The biggest mistake I see is the leaking of this material. I am sure far worse things happen and people forget what type of individuals these terrorists are. They have lost all rights by joining Al-Qaida in the first place. The world has gone soft and they will take advantage of any weaknesses. I am not a hard arse but want the world to be a safer place and have no issues with what they are doing behind the scenes.
Has everyone forgotten 9/11, the beheadings, the you tube videos with the chainsaws, these are not individuals that care about others.
It's been proven time and time again that torture doesn't work. It's ineffective and doesn't provide actionable intel.
If you follow the links in this piece you'll find that the newly released cables demonstrate on a number of occasions that 'intelligence' gathered through waterboarding was already known/obtained through other non-violent means.
Movies like Zero Dark 30 and TV shows like 24 will have you believe that there's a ticking time bomb and that the ends justify the means when it comes to torture. But this is complete fiction. The same is true in real life. Torture doesn't save lives. It helps to foment hate towards the west and actually is used as a recruitment tool for terrorist organizations.
And who created Al-Queda again?
They emerged from the Mujahadeen forces in Afghanistan funded and armed by the CIA.
Then what is the answer? You can't be soft on them either as they will only take advantage and see this as a weakness.
You've missed the point of who "them" actually is. Who is "trying to take advantage" ? The Iraqi's that had nothing to do with 911 ? The Saudi, US and Israeli backed moderate headchoppers in Syria ? Who exactly are the bad guys ?
Torture is also an extremely ineffective method of extracting information from a prisoner, (and that's making the assumption that the prisoner even knows any worthwhile information) with victims confessing to anything just to make the pain stop.
She’s with the very people trump publicly bashes! It’s all a show
They are all on the same team
Anyone who thinks trump is draining the swamp needs to take a look at this!they are all corrupt
Who you gonna believe, V, Assange, Manning, & Snowden or the CIA?
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