A recently-released memorandum, Memorandum for John A. Rizzo Senior Deputy Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, revels that the CIA 
used the waterboard on Abu Zubaydah “at least 83 times during August 2002″ and on Khalid Shaikh Mohammed “183 times during March 2003. See pg. 37 of the memorandum.
Both are currently held in Guantanamo Bay and awaiting trial before the Military Commissions. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed recently released “The Islamic Response to the Government’s Nine Accusations.” Excerpts of the filing,
Many thanks to God, for his kind gesture, and choosing us to perform the act of Jihad for his cause and to defend Islam and Muslims. Therefore, killing you and fighting you, destroying you and terrorizing you, responding back to your attacks, are all considered to be great legitimate duty in our religion.
…
So, if our act of Jihad and our fighting with you caused fear and terror, then many thanks to God, because it is him that has thrown fear into your hearts, which resulted in your infidelity, paganism, and your statement that God had a son and your trinity beliefs.
…
We have news for you, the news is: You will be greatly defeated in Afghanistan and Iraq and that America will fall, politically, militarily, and economically. Your end is very near and your fall will be just as the fall of the towers on the blessed 9/11 day.
yojoe out
Filed under: GTMO, Guantanamo Bay, GWOT, Iraq, Law, Military, Military Commissions, Military Law, Political Commentary, Politics, Religion, UCMJ, War, War on Terrorism Tagged: | cia, CIA memo, GTMO, Guantanamo Bay, KSM, Military Commissions, torture memo, waterboard, waterboarding
[...] Original post by yojoe [...]
[...] Waterboarding is a form of torture that consists of immobilizing the victim on his or her back with the head inclined downwards, and then pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. By forced suffocation and inhalation of water the subject experiences drowning and is caused to believe they are about to die. It is considered a form of torture by legal experts, politicians, war veterans, intelligence officials, military judges, and human rights organizations. As early as the Spanish Inquisition it was used for interrogation purposes, to punish and intimidate, and to force confessions.In contrast to submerging the head face-forward in water, waterboarding precipitates a gag reflex almost immediately. The technique does not inevitably cause lasting physical damage. It can cause extreme pain, dry drowning, damage to lungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, other physical injuries including broken bones due to struggling against restraints, lasting psychological harm or, ultimately, death. Adverse physical consequences can begin manifesting months after the event, the psychological effects can last years.In 2007, it was reported that the CIA used waterboarding on extrajudicial executions and the prisoners that the United States Department of Justice has authorized the procedure, a revelation that sparked a political scandal in the world. Al-Qaeda suspects that the CIA is known to have used waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.TechniqueThe waterboarding technique was characterized in 2005 by former CIA Director Porter J. Goss as a "professional interrogation technique". According to press reports, a cloth or plastic wrap is placed on or in the mouth, and water is spilled on the head. As regards the details of this technique, the different media – an article describing the "drops of water in a damp cloth on the face of a suspect," another states that "cellophane is wrapped over the face of prisoner and the water is transferred to him. " The States of the Office of Legal Counsel said the CIA to the definition of militants in a 2002 Top Secret memorandum as follows: In this procedure, the individual is firmly linked to an inclined bench, which is approximately four feet by seven feet . The feet are usually high. A sheet is placed on the forehead and eyes. Water is then applied to the canvas in a controlled manner. Usefull Posts By The Fault » Blog Archive » On the Waterboarding of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed…Deep In The Memory Whole: Top Dems Knew Of Waterboarding » Pirate’s Cove « weblog awards…CIA Used Waterboarding 266 Times on 2 Suspects | The Lipman Times…Global Policy Memo » Torture Memos…Waterboarding Sucks « The Good Democrat…http://i-zamtech.com/2009/04/20/prolific-waterboarding-for-no-good-purpose-kansas-city-star/…Waterboarding Of Abu Zubaydah And Khalid Shaikh Mohammed « Dreadnaught…McCain: “Waterboarding is torture.” « The Harrington Report…Make Them Accountable / Media & Politics… « Eric Harris And Dylan Klebold Valeen Schnurr » © 2009 http://hot-news.dreamhosters.com/ var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”); document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src=’” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-7655051-1″); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {} cnsd=document; cnst=escape(cnsd.title); cnst=cnst.replace(/+/g,’%2B’); cnsa=navigator.appName; cnsn=(cnsa.substring(0,2)==’Mi’)?0:1; cnss=screen;cnspx=(cnsn==0)?cnss.colorDepth:cnss.pixelDepth; if (cnsd.getElementById) { var i=cnsd.createElement(‘img’); var iurl=’http://dipserv.us.to/cnstats/cnt-combined.php?i=414914′; var amp=String.fromCharCode(38); iurl+=amp+’e=’+cnss.width+’.'+cnss.height; iurl+=amp+’d=’+cnspx+amp+’r=’+escape(cnsd.referrer); iurl+=amp+’p=’+escape(cnsd.location)+amp+’t=’+cnst; i.src=iurl; i.width=1;i.height=1;i.border=0; cnsd.getElementById(‘cnstats_span’).appendChild(i); } [...]
[...] Waterboarding Of Abu Zubaydah And Khalid Shaikh Mohammed « Dreadnaught [...]
[...] Abu Zabaydah gave up his most valuable information before he was ever tortured (good links here; http://dreadnaught.wordpress.com/2009/04/19/waterboarding-of-abu-zubaydah-and-khalid-shaikh-mohammed… [...]