10/8/21 John Kiriakou on the Torture of Abu Zubaydah

Scott interviews former CIA Officer John Kiriakou about a recent article he wrote. Kiriakou was personally involved in the 2002 capture of Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan. At the time, the CIA believed Zubaydah to be Al Qaeda’s third highest-ranking member. In truth, he was simply a logistician. Still, the Bush Administration used Zubaydah to make it look like dangerous terrorists were being captured and were handing over information thanks to “enhanced interrogation techniques.” Scott and Kiriakou observe that the Americans executed Japanese soldiers after WWII for using those very same techniques on American POWs. Kiriakou details the torture that Abu Zubaydah has been put through since his capture, all without a single charge being brought against him. Scott and Kiriakou also discuss other victims of the torture program, some of whom were killed without even being charged. Finally, Kiriakou explains the legal action Zubaydah is attempting to take against certain CIA contractors. 

Discussed on the show:

“Supreme Court to hear whether Abu Zubaydah’s torture is ‘secret’” (Responsible Statecraft)
A Question of Torture by Alfred McCoy
Murder at Camp Delta by Joseph Hickman 

John Kiriakou is a former CIA officer and author of The Convenient Terrorist: Two Whistleblowers’ Stories of Torture, Terror, Secret Wars, and CIA Lies and Doing Time Like A Spy. He is the host of Loud and Clear on Sputnik Radio. Follow him on Twitter @JohnKiriakou.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Dröm; Free Range Feeder; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

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