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CIA Staged Mock Executions, Report Says

By PAMELA HESS
,
AP
posted: 5 HOURS 29 MINUTES AGO
comments: 1417
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WASHINGTON (Aug. 22) - As the Justice Department considers whether to investigate alleged harsh interrogation practices sanctioned by the Bush administration, sources say a soon-to-be-released report by the CIA's inspector general reveals that agency interrogators conducted mock executions of terror suspects.
These latest allegations are contained in a 2004 report that has been kept secret and is to be released next week, two congressional officials told The Associated Press. They spoke late Friday on condition of anonymity because the report has not yet been cleared for release.
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Threatening a prisoner with death violates U.S. anti-torture laws.
In one case, interrogators brought a gun and power drill into a session with suspected Cole bomber Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri, the report says. The suicide bombing of the warship USS Cole killed 17 U.S. sailors in Yemen in 2000.
In another episode, a gunshot was fired in a room next to a detainee to make the prisoner believe another suspect had been killed, according to the report, which a federal judge has ordered to be made public Monday in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The IG report's findings were first reported by Newsweek on its Web site.
Nashiri was one of three CIA prisoners subjected to waterboarding, a brutal interrogation technique that simulates drowning that was among 10 techniques approved by the Bush administration's Justice Department in 2002. President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have denounced waterboarding as torture.
"The CIA in no way endorsed behavior— no matter how infrequent— that went beyond formal guidance," said agency spokesman Paul Gimigliano. He declined to comment on the contents of the IG report.
Holder is considering whether to appoint a criminal prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's interrogation practices, a controversial move that would run counter to President Barack Obama's wishes to leave the issue in the past.
Gimigliano said the career prosecutors at the Justice Department have reviewed the report to determine if any laws were broken and whether the interrogators should be prosecuted.
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Photos From Afghanistan
Afghan villager watch a US Marine stand guard in Helmand province on July 23, 2009. US regional envoy Richard Holbrooke arrived in Afghanistan on July 23 and headed to southern Helmand province, where recently deployed US Marines are battling Taliban insurgents, a local official said. US President Barack Obama's troubleshooter for Afghanistan and Pakistan travelled from Islamabad, where government officials had expressed concern that a fresh offensive in the Afghan south would push rebels over the border. AFP PHOTO/Abdul Malek (Photo credit should read ABDUL MALEK/AFP/Getty Images)
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"Professionals in the Department of Justice decided if and when to pursue prosecution," he said. "That's how the system was supposed to work, and that's how it did work."
Just one CIA contract interrogator, David Passaro, has been prosecuted. He was found guilty in 2007 in the beating death of a prisoner in Afghanistan.
The Los Angeles Times reported Aug. 9 that a CIA operative brought a gun into an interrogation booth to force a detainee to talk. One of the congressional officials told the AP that referred to the interrogation of the USS Cole suspect.
The IG review was completed in May 2004. The ACLU has sought its release since then. It was expected to be released earlier this year but was delayed by government request.
The report casts doubt on the effectiveness of the harsh interrogation methods employed by CIA interrogators, according to quotes from the report that were contained in Bush-era Justice Department memos declassified this spring. It says no attacks were averted by information obtained using harsh interrogation methods.
The CIA detained and interrogated 94 terrorist suspects; 28 were subjected to harsh methods. Of those three were waterboarded, according to government documents made public earlier this year.
But former CIA Director Michael Hayden said this week at a panel discussion in Washington that the review also credits the harsh interrogation with yielding information on al-Qaida's basic infrastrucutre, which in turn allowed the CIA to fight the organization behind the 9/11 hijackings.
John L. Helgerson, the now-retired CIA inspector who spearheaded the investigation, told the AP in June that the report is a comprehensive review of everything the CIA did in the secret detention and interrogation program begun in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The investigation was undertaken in response to concerns expressed by agency employees about the program, he added.
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FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists
Daniel Andreas San Diego, an animal rights activist wanted for bombings, is being added to the agency's list of most wanted terrorists -- the first accused domestic terrorist on that list. Click through this gallery for a look at some of the terrorism suspects already on the FBI's list.
FBI / AP
FBI / AP
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-08-22 09:33:15
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DesignbyDW

06:49 PMAug 22 2009

CAN YOU FACE THE FACT THAT YOU DO NOT LIKE OUR PRESIDENT BECAUSE OF HIS RACE? THE FACT THAT YOU ARE A RACIST, BIGOTED PERSON DOES NOT GO AGAINST WHAT YOUR RELIGION TRIED TO TEACH YOU? WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? A HIGHLY EDUCATED MAN PUTTING QUALIFIED INDIVIDUALS IN HIGH RANKING, DIFFICULT GOVT. POSITIONS? KNOWINGLY PLACING BLAME WHERE YOU KNOW IT DOES NOT FALL WITH FALSE WITNESS.READ THE AUDACITY OF HOPE. THE HOPE IS FOR INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM AND A HIGHER QUALITY OF LIFE FOR EVERYONE, THE WAY IT IS WRITTEN IN THE CONSTITUTION AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS.TRY IT, YOU MIGHT LIKE IT.

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TonyDownes58

06:49 PMAug 22 2009

TrekkinBob - This is the thing about right wing Americans. Most of them haven't a clue to the rest of the world, yet seem to want them all dead, particularly if they don't agree with their religion.>>>>AMEN, BROTHER.

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Cecil Joy

06:49 PMAug 22 2009

BT760406:45 PMAug 22 2009Cecil Joy 06:41 PMAug 22 2009 BT760406:37 PMAug 22 2009LIE..I NEVER SAID I SUPPORTED A SINGLE PAYER UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>& gt;I do, 35% cut straight off the top if you can get rid of the middle man, the Health Insurance Companies.....I KNOW IT'S HARD FOR YOU TO COMPREHEND THINGS, BUT THE POST IS TO POINT OUT A FLAT OUT LIE..>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ;OH, I was making a point as well. You seem a little touchy, sore stomach, bloating, cramps?

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McDuffik49

06:49 PMAug 22 2009

TrekkinBob06:43 PMAug 22 2009Liberal4aclu 06:41 PMAug 22 2009 Picture this: Jesus Christ holding a .45 semi-automatic against a Muslims head and pulling the trigger. Or this: Jesus Christ strapping a young boy to a board and REPEATEDLY dunking him into water until he ALMOST but not quite drowns - OVER and OVER and OVER for 3 days. THIS is what your government did and what MANY of you support in THE NAME of CHRIST you Fake Christian hypocrite motherf---ing despicable worthless human scum................sad fact that many aol posters would applaud, not realizing that their forefathers fought against this with all their hearts>>>>Bob, I didn't know you worked for the CIA, as you must have to have been an eyewitness to all of this!! Of course, this was alll in one of your ANTI- American liberal dreams!

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TrekkinBob

06:48 PMAug 22 2009

RAcocella 06:45 PMAug 22 2009 TrekkinBob - This is the thing about right wing Americans. Most of them haven't a clue to the rest of the world, yet seem to want them all dead, particularly if they don't agree with their religion. --------------- You're off your game, Bob. That was really stupid thing to say. You shouldn't paint with such a broad brush.................its easy to do because you guys love water colors and only one color - black.

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SAPrinting

06:48 PMAug 22 2009

trekkinbob, yea our forefathers fought against a lot of things, many of which are being taken away by this administration!

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Cashman7323

06:48 PMAug 22 2009

HelenHeRowe 06:46 PMAug 22 2009 What a thug nation we have become. As bad as Communist Russia. One of these days citzens will start disappearing._______________ Not yet, but with Acorn on the prowl and the thought police in full swing, we're getting there.

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TonyDownes58

06:48 PMAug 22 2009

McDuffik4906:43 PMAug 22 2009TonyDownes5806:36 PMAug 22 2009McDuffik4906:33 PMAug 22 2009Jmadamspa06:28 PMAug 22 2009It's ridiculous for you to say Bush is just like Obama. Bush's mom and dad are white.>>>Yep, President Bush may be a Yankee, but he isn't a half breed. Perhaps that is why obama is afraid to show his birth certificate, because he is ashamed.>>>I FOUND THE BIRTHER. WE THOUGHT THEY WERE EXTINCT BUT HERE ONE IS.>>>>No, I'm not a birther, it is just that, regardless of where he was born, obama is ANTI-American, and wrong for America. But then, so are libs!>>>>i'm often amazed at how often you flag thumping, patriotic americans tell someone who has a different view than your own to leave the country. i seem to recall that our shores are open to anyone who wants to become part of the democratic process, which includes having different opinions. or is the america you want back the one that says it's okay to run off and murder t...

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DTERRAMAN

06:48 PMAug 22 2009

hitler was a sissy when compared to the NWO crowd and what they have in store for us all

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Luckfibs

06:47 PMAug 22 2009

Philipphlf 06:44 PMAug 22 2009 TonyDownes58 = KMA====================================================== always a hoot when 2 left-wing idiots mistakenly attack each other!! lol

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As the Justice Department considers whether to investigate alleged harsh interrogation practices sanctioned by the Bush administration, sources say a soon-to-be-released report by the CIA\'s inspector general reveals that agency interrogators conducted mock executions of terror suspects.