Senate Investigation Reveals Frank 2002 Discussion of Gitmo Interrogation

[maddezmom]

Senate Investigation Reveals Frank 2002 Discussion of Gitmo Interrogation
by Paul Kiel - June 17, 2008 12:09 pm EDT
Tags: al-Qaida, Detainee Treatment Scandal, Guantanamo Bay, Pentagon, Torture
For 18 months, the Senate Armed Services Committee has been conducting a wide-ranging investigation into the military's adoption of new interrogation techniques after 9/11. And in a hearing this morning, the panel released a number of documents showing the development of the adminstration's interrogation policy back in 2002.

The documents show, among other things, that Pentagon officials began inquiring into what harsh interrogation techniques might be used in the summer of 2002 -- contrary to testimony by former Defense Department general counsel William Haynes II, who testified in 2006 that requests for such techniques had come in the fall of 2002 from commanders at Guantanamo Bay, as the Washington Post reports this morning.


Credit: AP Photo/Brennan LinsleyIn his opening statement, Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) walked through the timeline for how the Pentagon adopted the harshest interrogation techniques, relying on a number of documents (pdf) uncovered by the committee. One particularly remarkable document details the minutes from a meeting at Guantanamo Bay that included John Rizzo, the acting CIA general counsel, Jonathan Fredman, the CIA's chief counsel to its Counterterrorism Center, and Gitmo staff. It occurred October 2, 2002 -- just a week after a delegation of senior administration lawyers including Haynes and counsel to the Vice President David Addington, had visited the facility.

Levin covers the lowlights:

"When the GTMO Chief of Staff suggested at the meeting that GTMO 'can’t do sleep deprivation,' LTC Beaver, GTMO’s senior lawyer, responded 'Yes we can – with approval.' LTC Beaver added that GTMO 'may need to curb the harsher operations while is around.' Mr. Fredman, the senior CIA lawyer, suggested it’s 'very effective to identify phobias and use them' and described for the group the so-called 'wet towel' technique, which we know as waterboarding. Mr. Fredman said 'it can feel like you’re drowning. The lymphatic system will react as if you’re suffocating, but your body will not cease to function.' And Mr. Fredman presented the following disturbing perspective of our legal obligations under anti-torture laws, saying 'It is basically subject to perception. If the detainee dies you’re doing it wrong.'... What was GTMO’s senior JAG officer, LTC Beaver’s response? 'We will need documentation to protect us.'"

more: http://www.propublica.org/article/senate-investigation-reveals-frank-2002-discussion-of-interrogation617/

[Moderator]

1. DOD lawyer pushed for harsh detainee interrogations: Senate committee chair

DOD lawyer pushed for harsh detainee interrogations: Senate committee chair
Mike Rosen-Molina at 11:48 AM ET



DOD General Counsel William "Jim" Haynes encouraged the use of harsh interrogation tactics on terror detainees, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) said at a Tuesday committee hearing . Levin said:
So, how did it come about that American military personnel stripped detainees naked, put them in stress positions, used dogs to scare them, put leashes around their necks to humiliate them, hooded them, deprived them of sleep, and blasted music at them. Were these actions the result of "a few bad apples" acting on their own? It would be a lot easier to accept if it were. But that’s not the case. The truth is that senior officials in the United States government sought information on aggressive techniques, twisted the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their use against detainees. In the process, they damaged our ability to collect intelligence that could save lives.
The committee released documents revealing that Haynes studied interrogation methods used in a US military personnel training exercise and explored ways in which they could be applied to terror detainees. Some of the program's techniques were later approved for use against terror detainees in a 2002 memo by then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Some military lawyers reportedly argued against the use of the techniques. Haynes was scheduled to testify at Tuesday's hearing.

more:http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/06/dod-lawyer-pushed-for-harsh-detainee.php

[maddezmom]

2. oops, thought I hit the link to add it to my journal

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