By John Friend – The American Free Press Dec 23, 2019
A recently published report highlights in graphic detail the barbarous “enhanced interrogation” techniques developed and administered by the CIA against various detainees under President George W. Bush in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the initiation of the Global War on Terror.
Abu Zubaydah drawing. Click to enlarge
The report, authored in part by Seton Hall University School of Law Professor Mark Denbeaux, is entitled, “How America Tortures,” and features never-before-seen illustrations drawn by Abu Zubaydah, depicting the brutal interrogation techniques utilized against him while in custody at CIA “black sites” shortly after his capture and arrest in March 2002.
Zubaydah, a Palestinian-born man whose given name is Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, was wounded and captured in late March 2002 in Pakistan. He has long been alleged to be a high profile al Qaeda operative and was described by Bush following his capture as “one of the top operatives plotting and planning death and destruction on the United States.” Subsequent investigations have discovered that these allegations were false, yet Zubaydah remains indefinitely detained at Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.
The report analyzes the so-called torture memos developed by the CIA outlining the specific techniques that were to be utilized against Zubaydah and other detainees in the Global War on Terror. The report also relies on descriptions of the torture techniques provided by Zubaydah, including illustrations drawn by him depicting his torture, as well as internal CIA documents, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Report, and other government documents.
The so-called torture memos, which were prepared by the CIA in 2002, outline a now-outlawed interrogation program that utilized violence, extreme isolation, and sleep deprivation on detainees in order to extract information and confessions.
One of the recently released illustrations drawn by Zubaydah shows the man strapped down naked on a table with a hood covering his head. Water is then poured over his hooded head, simulating a drowning scenario. This “enhanced interrogation” technique, often referred to as waterboarding, was later described by the Senate Intelligence Committee’s study as “brutal and far worse than the CIA represented.” According to the latest reports, Zubaydah was subjected to this torture technique over 80 times while in CIA custody.
“They kept pouring water and concentrating on my nose and my mouth until I really felt I was drowning and my chest was just about to explode from the lack of oxygen,” Zubaydah explained to his lawyer in a declassified report.
Drawing by Abu Zubaydah. Click to enlarge
Zubaydah was also subjected to a variety of other brutal torture techniques, including prolonged periods of sleep deprivation, having his head slammed repeatedly into a wall, and being confined and isolated in boxes, including in a coffin-shaped box, restricting his movement. Zubaydah recounted that he had been kept awake at one point for “maybe two or three weeks or even more.”
“It felt like an eternity,” he stated, “to the point that I found myself falling asleep despite the water being thrown at me by the guard.”
The CIA’s interrogation team videotaped many of the torture sessions, only to destroy them all in 2005 at the behest of Jose Rodriguez, then the head of the CIA’s clandestine service.
Incredibly, Zubaydah has not been officially charged or tried for any of his alleged crimes, and remains in federal custody indefinitely.
Zubaydah’s legal team has brought cases before the European Court of Human Rights, whose member countries, including Poland and Lithuania, were at least partially complicit in the extraordinary rendition program that transported detainees such as Zubaydah to CIA black sites for these torture sessions.
The latest report demonstrates conclusively once again how far America has strayed from her principles as a result of the prosecution of the Orwellian Global War on Terror.
John Friend is a freelance writer based in California.
John Friend, an internet friend of mine is Christian. According to his belief system the Bible is true, especially the New Testament is true and Jesus is God and we must obey God.
Christians believe God authored the Bible. According to this book we must obey authority. But the authority is corrupt, evil, demonic. So how can John Friend justify his belief system and what is going on with corrupt government? This dilemma faces all Christians. Should you obey the state or resist the state?
Romans 13 NIV
“Submission to Governing Authorities
1Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
Note: I argue this point frequently. That is what the book says and you naysayers can go to hell who deny what your book says. The truth is either God didn’t write the Bible, or God is corrupt. Take your pick.
What the believer is unable to comprehend is that freedom and liberty is incompatible with their faith.
Since there is near zero chance that any significant amount of Christians will ever come to terms with their obedience to authority vs. freedom you can expect the current death spiral – which is caused by faith – to continue and get worse.
To be a good god fearing citizen obedient to authority you must:
1. believe the lies of state
2. accept false flags as real events
3. ignore state sponsored terror like 911
4. pay taxes and be true to state use of that money like state sponsored terrorist groups like ISIS or Ukraine Jewish government
5. go to war and fight wars for israel as loyal obedience to god
6. snitch on any patriot or christian not loyal to the state
The list goes on and on. I bring this up all the time and Christians sometimes react violently to my logic. They can not come to grips that their faith is actually a great evil because it is really loyalty to a demonically corrupt government.
so why has the usa government and its agencies et al (not to mention uk and france) not been prosecuted for crimes against humanity? why has Interpol not issued arrest warrants world wide for the arrest of all or any government official or senior employees of its agencies?
“According to this book we must obey authority.” Says Yukon Jack. Sorry Jack, the Bible does not say that. Jesus himself disobeyed authority and the law and refused to submit to the authority of Satan when tempted in The Wilderness.
The only authority Jesus asked us to submit to is God: the personification of creativity and goodness. One submits to God by taking personal responsibility to do what is right and to treat our fellow human beings as we ourselves wish to be treated. Many claim to be Christian but do not act accordingly
“Christians believe God authored the Bible.” That’s a gross generalization. The Bible, like any other texts, is authored, assembled and edited by human hands and a conglomeration of many sources. Many Christians use the term “divinely inspired”. The Old Testament lays out the background history from which Jesus emerged, and the New Testament lays out the essence of Jesus’s ministry and the general sequence of events as related by four different authors whose context and focus all differed somewhat.
“This is what the book says” (Yukon Jack claims) NO. It’s what Paul’s Letter to the Romans says and as such is his own opinion. Early apostles and emissaries frequently disagreed over such matters. Hence the Bible is littered with contradictions that are simply part and parcel of a new faith in a state of flux and formation. However, we read:
“Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
So what if your “rulers” behave without honor and have not earned respect?
Then surely they are not operating in accordance with God’s will are they? Perhaps one should read this text with greater care and read between the lines. Paul took care with what he wrote to his Roman audiences, showing obeisance to the Roman authorities while allowing his Christian readers to get the gist.
I think Christians get upset with you logic Yukon Jack, because you attack their beliefs, misrepresent them as Satanists, and most lack the articulation or literary skills to retort effectively.
Torture is a very poor way to obtain reliable information, so it’s just cruelty for the sake of cruelty. For which demons like Cheney, Bush, and the Jew neocons should be publicly flogged, rolled in pig shit, impoverished, imprisoned, and probably executed.