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...In a landmark move, the Biden administration has advised [SCOTUS] that Abu Zubaydah..who has been in US custody for nearly 20 years, can provide limited testimony for use in a Polish criminal investigation into his torture at a CIA "black site" in that countryBefore this abuse commenced, Zubaydah was interviewed by FBI operative Ali Soufan. While he was recovering from life-threatening injuries incurred during his capture by Pakistani intelligence --he had been shot in the thigh, testicles, and stomach with an assault rifle--..The FBI'ss top Al-Qaeda analyst, Dan Coleman, describes Zubaydah as a mere "safehouse keeper"with severe mental problems, who "claimed o know more about Al-Qaeda and its inner workings than he really did."he torture he suffered no doubt played a pivotal role in prompting him to make such claims[torture someone into saying things the CIA and other sthen use to justify the past and possibly future torture. Stalin/Hitler woudl approve -ED]
In any event, Soufan was confident Zubaydah had no more secrets to tell, but the CIA claimed to be unconvinced--after all, Langley paid its Pakistani counterparts $10 million for him, and needed a greater return on that investment. When the torture finally stopped, with no further intelligence gathered, the agency was forced to conclude Soufan had been right all along.
As the Senate Select Committee report later found, the CIA still considered its tactics a success, to be "used as a template for future interrogation of high-value captives," on the basis that such hideous treatment had "confirmed Zubaydah did not possess the intelligence" it erroneously assessed him to have.
Other shocking excerpts reveal that a number of CIA personnel attached to the detention and interrogation program had on their personal files [info about their own backgrounds being shocking]Among them were officers who, "Among other issues, had engaged in inappropriate detainee interrogations, had workplace anger management issues, and had reportedly admitted to sexual assault"
The agency seemed assured of its immunity from prosecution for its crimes, with several detainees having been informed they would never get out of CIA custody alive. One was told they'd be leaving only "in a coffin-shaped box," while another was warned "we can never let the world know what I have done to you" CIA officers also threatened several detainees with harm to their families should any details of their maltreatment be made public -- this included telling one that their children's s lives would be at risk, a second that his mother would be sexually abused, and a third that his mother's throat would be cut.
...Since September 2006, Zubaydah has been held at Guantanamo Bay, despite the CIA having acknowledged that he wasn't even a member of Al-Qaeda, let alone a significant figure within the group. The scars from his time in "black site" detention remain writ large today, with virtually perpetual headaches, an "excruciating sensitivity to sounds," frequent seizures, and an inability to recall his own father's name.
Still, the Supreme Court permitting him to make limited disclosures about his experiences is an encouraging sign that the invocation of "state secrecy privilege" to block disclosure of key evidence related to the CIA's global post-9/11 torture program may no longer be a viable get-out for officials. This, in turn, raises the prospect that, at long last, someone might finally be held accountable for the gross human rights violations the agency and its assorted contractors inflicted on so many with such impunity for so long.
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After the closing statements, the panel of six senior military officers began deliberations. If convicted, Mr. Hamdan faces a possible life term. Even if acquitted, he will probably remain in custody [prison camp] as an ' 'enemy combatant' ' until the government determines [decides to declare] the war on terrorism is over - NY Times reporting on our "free" country (nother defense lawyer, Joseph M. McMillan, said the s contentions amounted to guilt by association. He noted that after World War II, s driver, Erich Kempka, Hitler's driver, was not prosecuted as a war criminal._
Terrorism and State-Terror (Called "War"): Stop Both
"The student is gone; the master has arrived"
-popular Iraqi saying after the U.S. ousted Saddam Hussein.
See: http://www.cesr.org/beyondtorture.htm
(Quoted in full report http://www.cesr.org/beyondtorture.pdf )
