Mob-Buster
To Probe CIA Over
Al-Qaeda Interrogations
By
Chris Gelken
03 January,
2008
Countercurrents.org
America’s top lawman has
announced the launch of a criminal investigation into the CIA’s
destruction of videotapes allegedly showing the violent interrogations
of al-Qaeda suspects being held at a secret prison.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey has appointed a modern day ‘Untouchable’
to head up the investigation. But will mob-buster John Durham be tough
enough to take on the Central Intelligence Agency and possibly even
the White House?
“He’s a very solid guy,” New York journalist Lucy
Komisar told PressTV in a satellite interview, “In fact one of
his big successes was putting away a Republican governor for corruption.
He’s also gone up against the FBI in Boston that was using mob
informants in a way that ended up having some people killed that the
FBI should have been protecting. So he doesn’t have a problem
going after the agencies of government, powerful agencies at that.”
Durham will be investigating whether the CIA broke any laws when it
destroyed the tapes that reportedly showed two high profile al-Qaeda
prisoners, including Abu Zubaydah, being subjected to waterboarding,
a technique that simulates drowning.
According to a former CIA agent who spoke to ABC News late last year,
Zubaydah broke after just 35-seconds.
Mukasey ordered the investigation based on a court order issued in 2005
that demanded the preservation of all evidence related to interrogations
at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and criticism from the
U.S. September 11th Commission which claims the CIA deliberately obstructed
their investigation regarding the interrogation of suspects.
The commission told The New York Times that the CIA ignored their requests
for information and did not notify them regarding the existence of the
tapes.
“The commission went to the CIA and asked for anything that would
shed light on al-Qaeda and its leaders,” Komisar told PressTV,
“they were not told about these tapes and they asked in many different
ways if there was any other information that they should have received.”
The case will likely bring the subject of torture back into sharp focus,
and also highlight the question of America’s secret prison network,
sometimes referred to as the American Gulag.
“We know there are at least eight of them,” Komisar said,
“they are or were in Afghanistan, in Thailand and in a number
of former East European countries, but we’re not getting any official
information and it really depends on whether or not the people who have
the information stonewall when Durham conducts his grand jury.”
Komisar explained that in the U.S. a grand jury is necessary to bring
an indictment in a very serious criminal case.
“A grand jury’s proceedings are conducted in secret and
the testimony that is taken is secret. So it really depends now on whether
or not the administration people, the CIA people, are willing to talk,”
she said.
But, Komisar pointed out that refusing to give information to a grand
jury can result in a charge of contempt and even a jail sentence. “So
this will be a difficult problem for a number of people,” Komisar
said.
One of the first to face questioning will be former CIA official Jose
Rodriquez who has been called to appear on Jan. 16.
“He’s been a CIA guy for some 30 years,” Komisar said,
“He was at various times the station chief in Argentina, Colombia
and Mexico. He was the one who gave the order for the tapes to be destroyed,
so if anyone is going to take the fall it is going to be him.”
Komisar said the main question now, however, is what he is being told
by the people in government, and when or if he gets indicted.
“President Bush is in office for another year and he has a very
interesting habit of issuing pardons to people who are clearly guilty
of serious crimes,” Komisar said.
The clear intimation is that Rodriquez might be encouraged to fall on
his sword for the sake of the agency, and then receive a pardon from
the White House. But according to earlier reports, it’s not only
the reputation of the Langley-based spy agency that is at stake.
President Bush has been accused of lying in regard to his knowledge
of the tapes and their destruction. If Durham’s investigation
reveals proof of Bush’s dishonesty, that could open up the way
for impeachment.
“Technically yes,” agreed Komisar, “but the problem
is this is an election year and the Democrats and Republicans are busy
fighting over who is going to be the successor. So I am not sure that
members of Congress, even Democratic members would want to get involved
in a fight over impeachment. It would be a big distraction and it might
bring down a lot of criticism on the Democrats, and they don’t
want that.”
Above article based on television interview conducted by author and
first broadcast on PressTV on Thursday, 3rd January, 2008
www.gelken.com
chrisgelken.blogspot.com
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