CIA Officials Say Three Al-Qaida Suspects Subjected to Waterboarding
CIA officials acknowledged for the first time in congressional testimony yesterday that waterboarding was used on three terrorism suspects.
The officials said special circumstances justified use of the interrogation technique, and they refused to rule out its use in the future, the Associated Press reports. They identified the suspects who were subjected to waterboarding as accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and al-Qaida figures Abu Zubayda and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.).
“We used it against these three detainees because of the circumstances at the time,” CIA Director Michael Hayden told the Senate Intelligence Committee. “There was the belief that additional catastrophic attacks against the homeland were inevitable. And we had limited knowledge about al-Qaida and its workings. Those two realities have changed.”
National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell said waterboarding could be used in the future if the president and attorney general authorize it.
The revelations prompted Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois to call on the Justice Department to investigate whether past use of waterboarding violated any laws.
