- Sep 26, 2000
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclat...5/pl_mcclatchy/3234269
Cheney said Gitmo detainees revealed Iraq-al Qaida link
WASHINGTON ? Then-Vice President Dick Cheney , defending the invasion of Iraq , asserted in 2004 that detainees interrogated at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp had revealed that Iraq had trained al Qaida operatives in chemical and biological warfare, an assertion that wasn't true.
Cheney's 2004 comments to the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News were largely overlooked at the time. However, they appear to substantiate recent reports that interrogators at Guantanamo and other prison camps were ordered to find evidence of alleged cooperation between al Qaida and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ? despite CIA reports that there were only sporadic, insignificant contacts between the militant Islamic group and the secular Iraqi dictatorship.
The head of the Criminal Investigation Task Force at Guantanamo from 2002-2005 confirmed to McClatchy that in late 2002 and early 2003, intelligence officials were tasked to find, among other things, Iraq -al Qaida ties, which were a central pillar of the Bush administration's case for its March 2003 invasion of Iraq .
"I'm aware of the fact that in late 2002, early 2003, that (the alleged al Qaida-Iraq link) was an interest on the intelligence side," said retired Army Lt. Col. Brittain Mallow , a former military criminal investigator. "That was something they were tasked to look at."
He said he was unaware of the origins of the directive, but a former senior U.S. intelligence official has told McClatchy that Cheney's and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's offices were demanding that information in 2002 and 2003. The official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter, requested anonymity.
During the same period, two alleged senior al Qaida operatives in CIA custody were waterboarded repeatedly ? Abu Zubaydah at least 83 times and Khalid Sheik Mohammed at least 183 times.
A 2004 Senate Intelligence Committee report said that the two were questioned about the relationship between al Qaida and Iraq , and that both denied knowing of one.
A U.S. Army psychiatrist, Maj. Paul Burney , told the Army Inspector General's office in 2006 that during the same period, interrogators at Guantanamo were under pressure to produce evidence of al Qaida-Iraq ties, but were unable to do so.
"The more frustrated people got in not being able to establish that link . . . there was more and more pressure to resort to measures that might produce more immediate results," Burney said, according excerpts of an interview published in a declassified Senate Armed Services Committee report released on April 22 .
Cliffs:
Cheney and Rumsfeld ordered Gitmo torturers to get evidence that Al-Qaida had trained Iraqis in biological warfare. And guess what? If you torture people long enough they will tell you whatever you want to hear. Even when its not true.
And Cheney will then use the false information to prove he was right.
Cheney is a Dick.
Cheney said Gitmo detainees revealed Iraq-al Qaida link
WASHINGTON ? Then-Vice President Dick Cheney , defending the invasion of Iraq , asserted in 2004 that detainees interrogated at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp had revealed that Iraq had trained al Qaida operatives in chemical and biological warfare, an assertion that wasn't true.
Cheney's 2004 comments to the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News were largely overlooked at the time. However, they appear to substantiate recent reports that interrogators at Guantanamo and other prison camps were ordered to find evidence of alleged cooperation between al Qaida and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ? despite CIA reports that there were only sporadic, insignificant contacts between the militant Islamic group and the secular Iraqi dictatorship.
The head of the Criminal Investigation Task Force at Guantanamo from 2002-2005 confirmed to McClatchy that in late 2002 and early 2003, intelligence officials were tasked to find, among other things, Iraq -al Qaida ties, which were a central pillar of the Bush administration's case for its March 2003 invasion of Iraq .
"I'm aware of the fact that in late 2002, early 2003, that (the alleged al Qaida-Iraq link) was an interest on the intelligence side," said retired Army Lt. Col. Brittain Mallow , a former military criminal investigator. "That was something they were tasked to look at."
He said he was unaware of the origins of the directive, but a former senior U.S. intelligence official has told McClatchy that Cheney's and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's offices were demanding that information in 2002 and 2003. The official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter, requested anonymity.
During the same period, two alleged senior al Qaida operatives in CIA custody were waterboarded repeatedly ? Abu Zubaydah at least 83 times and Khalid Sheik Mohammed at least 183 times.
A 2004 Senate Intelligence Committee report said that the two were questioned about the relationship between al Qaida and Iraq , and that both denied knowing of one.
A U.S. Army psychiatrist, Maj. Paul Burney , told the Army Inspector General's office in 2006 that during the same period, interrogators at Guantanamo were under pressure to produce evidence of al Qaida-Iraq ties, but were unable to do so.
"The more frustrated people got in not being able to establish that link . . . there was more and more pressure to resort to measures that might produce more immediate results," Burney said, according excerpts of an interview published in a declassified Senate Armed Services Committee report released on April 22 .
Cliffs:
Cheney and Rumsfeld ordered Gitmo torturers to get evidence that Al-Qaida had trained Iraqis in biological warfare. And guess what? If you torture people long enough they will tell you whatever you want to hear. Even when its not true.
And Cheney will then use the false information to prove he was right.
Cheney is a Dick.
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