cognitive dissident

Amy Goodman at Democracy Now! points out that "about a quarter of the Commission's footnotes rely in some way on the interrogation reports" of Guantanamo detainees. Since there was "enhanced interrogation" or other forms of torture applied, the testimony may thus be the "fruits of the poisonous tree" according to NBC investigative reporter Robert Windrem. Philip Zelikow, executive director of the 9/11 Commission, tries to remove the taint of torture from the commission's Report by claiming that "No one knows...that the information from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in these particular interrogation reports came from torture," but then admits that:

The obligation is, tell the public what you know, tell them how you know it, citing all your sources. If there are some things you don't know about the sources, tell them that, too. We did.

Zelikow's excuse relies on this passage from page 146 (the boxed text near the beginning of Chapter 5) of the Report:

Detainee Interrogation Reports

Chapters 5 and 7 rely heavily on information obtained from captured al Qaeda members. A number of these "detainees" have firsthand knowledge of the 9/11 plot.

Assessing the truth of statements by these witnesses-sworn enemies of the United States-is challenging. Our access to them has been limited to the review of intelligence reports based on communications received from the locations where the actual interrogations take place. We submitted questions for use in the interrogations, but had no control over whether, when, or how questions of particular interest would be asked. Nor were we allowed to talk to the interrogators so that we could better judge the credibility of the detainees and clarify ambiguities in the reporting. We were told that our requests might disrupt the sensitive interrogation process.

We have nonetheless decided to include information from captured 9/11 conspirators and al Qaeda members in our report. We have evaluated their statements carefully and have attempted to corroborate them with documents and statements of others. In this report, we indicate where such statements provide the foundation for our narrative. We have been authorized to identify by name only ten detainees whose custody has been confirmed officially by the U.S. government.

If we had treated the prisoners humanely, there would be far fewer questions about the results of their interrogations, but now they are credibly alleged to be tainted. As Windrem observes, "at least four of them said indeed that they had provided information only as a result of being tortured:"

And they used the word "torture." They did not use "enhanced interrogation techniques." They said "torture." And two of them, as I recall, said that they recanted what they had said during those interrogations, because it was not the truth.