XPost: alt.fan.howard-stern, alt.politics.obama, aus.legal   
   XPost: soc.culture.afghanistan, soc.culture.iraq   
   From: reality@check.it   
      
   > CIA staged mock execution, wielded power drill in interrogations, secret   
   > report says   
   >   
   > The methods were not mentioned in Justice Department memos authorizing the   
   > so-called enhanced interrogation program for terrorism detainees.   
   >   
   >   
   > 8:18 AM PDT, August 22, 2009   
   > Reporting from Washington   
   >   
   >     The CIA staged a mock execution and brandished weapons, including a   
   > gun and a power drill, during interrogation sessions with detainees the   
   > agency was desperate to persuade to talk, according to a long-secret   
   > internal CIA report expected to be released Monday.   
   >   
   > The episodes are part of a catalog of alleged abuses -- a 2004 report by   
   > the CIA's inspector general -- that has prompted U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H.   
   > Holder Jr. to consider appointing a criminal prosecutor to investigate   
   > cases in which the CIA strayed beyond its interrogation authorities.   
   >   
   > The prisoner confronted with the gun and power drill was identified by   
   > current and former U.S. government officials as Abd al Rahim al Nashiri,   
   > the alleged plotter of the attack on the U.S. destroyer Cole. Nashiri was   
   > also one of three prisoners who was subjected to the simulated drowning   
   > interrogation method known as waterboarding.   
   >   
   > The inspector general's report also describes at least one instance in   
   > which the CIA fired a gunshot in a room next door to a detainee in an   
   > apparent effort to convince the prisoner that another terrorism suspect   
   > had been executed, the official said.   
   >   
   > Some of the allegations, including the presence of a gun in an   
   > interrogation room, have been previously reported. But some of the details   
   > disclosed this weekend, including the name of the detainee, are new.   
   >   
   > The cases are among the most extreme examples in which CIA interrogators   
   > sought to improvise methods that were never mentioned in any of the legal   
   > memos the agency procured from the Justice Department authorizing the   
   > so-called enhanced interrogation program.   
   >   
   > "Some of the things that were done were almost in juvenile detective   
   > mode," said a former U.S. official familiar with the contents of the   
   > report.   
   >   
   > Even so, the report focused most of its most critical attention on alleged   
   > abuses of interrogation methods the agency had been explicitly authorized   
   > to use. In particular, the report raised troubling questions about the   
   > frequency with which certain prisoners were being waterboarded.   
   >   
   > Segments of the report that were declassified this year indicate that two   
   > senior Al Qaeda prisoners -- Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah --   
   > were waterboarded a total of 266 times, far more than had been envisioned   
   > in the Justice Department memos that gave the CIA permission to use the   
   > harsh method.   
   >   
   > The CIA declined to discuss specifics in the report.   
   >   
   > But CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said that the Justice Department has had   
   > the complete report since 2004 and that prosecutors have carefully   
   > reviewed it for legal accountability.   
   >   
   > He said the CIA "in no way condoned behavior -- no matter how   
   > infrequent --  that went beyond formal guidance."   
   >   
   > "This has all been looked at," Gimigliano added. "Professionals in the   
   > Department of Justice decided if and when to pursue prosecution. That's   
   > how the system was supposed to work and that's how it did work."   
   >   
   > Still, Holder is said to be moving closer to appointing a criminal   
   > prosecutor to examine, or in some cases, reexamine cases of alleged CIA   
   > interrogation abuse. The disclosure of fresh details from the report this   
   > weekend was seen by some in Washington as a sign that Holder may be   
   > setting the stage for such an announcement.   
   >   
   > The details on the mock execution and the use of the power drill were   
   > first reported online Friday by Newsweek. The CIA's use of a gun in the   
   > booth with a prisoner was first disclosed by The Times/Tribune this month.   
   >   
      
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