Ron Suskind: Torture Employed To Alleviate White House 'Frustration' In Run Up To War

Via Media Monitor Brian C. comes this segment from last night's Rachel Maddow Show, which began with the host stressing the need to "disambiguate" the various streams of new information coming to light about torture and policy in the Bush administration. But as it went on, the segment did more than elucidate connections. As far as torture goes, a recent report from the Senate Armed Services committee shows that similar interrogation instructions were getting passed to both the military and the Central Intelligence Agency along the same critical time frame. But, more importantly, with the recent news that detainees were being frenziedly pressed to offer up some connection between al Qaeda and Iraq, a unified field theorem of foreign policymaking becomes stunningly clear.

Guest Ron Suskind, author of The One-Percent Doctrine, spoke to this directly:

SUSKIND: What's fascinating here, is that if you run the timelines side by side, you see for the first time...that the key thing being sent down by the policymakers, by the White House, is find a link between Saddam and al Qaeda, so that we can essentially link Saddam to the 9/11 attacks, and then march into Iraq with the anger of 9/11 behind us. That was the goal, and was being passed down as the directive.

It's often called "the requirement" inside the CIA, for both agents with their sources and interrogators with their captives: "Here's what we're interested in, here's what we, the duly elected leaders want to hear about. Tell us what you can find." What's fascinating, is in the Senate [Armed Services] report, is finally, clear confirmation that that specific thing was driving many of the activities, and, mind you, the frustration inside of the White House...as frustration built inside of the White House that there was no link that was established, because the CIA told the White House from the very start that there is no Saddam to al Qaeda link - we checked it out, we did it every which way, sorry - the White House simply wouldn't take no for an answer, and it went with another method: torture was the method. "Get me a confession, I don't care how you do it." And that bled all the way through the government, both on the CIA side and the Army side.

Suskind noted that the "impetus was not to foil potential al Qaeda attacks. The impetus here was largely political and diplomatic. The White House had a political/diplomatic problem. It wanted it solved in the run up to the war."

People were tortured, FOR THE SAKE OF "SPIN."

ONCE AGAIN, WITH FEELING! People were tortured, FOR THE SAKE OF "SPIN."

[WATCH.]

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to [e-mail] -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.]

Comments

[flossophy]

Maddow seems like she's talking to 1st graders... perhaps she is.

[flossophy]

wikipedia = enemy of the left

the statists cannot control this information... yay!

[valkyrie607]

So, it turns out that these SERE techniques, which were developed by imitating Chinese and Soviet methods for eliciting false confessions for propaganda purposes, were eventually put into practice by our own government, for exactly the same reasons: extracting false information to use as propaganda.

[Richard Fried]

Shockingly good journalism by Maddow and Suskind. I almost forgot what it was like. Lots of this information was available already. Read The Looming Tower (Pulitzer Prize Winner) by Lawrence Wright to learn more about the FBI interrogation techniques. What an eye-opener! Another great insider book on the torture memos and the Bush White House is written by a Harvard lawyer in the thick of things (but smart enough to smell a rat--he resigned): The Terror Presidency by Jack Goldsmith, published in 1997. He is a conservative, folks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/magazine/09rosen.html

I am so glad I read those books when I did--so that I can put this all into context now. I knew THEN that I was disgusted--but it was just based on instinct. I am finally beginning to understand why! I have been disambiguated!

[Keith52]

What I think is VERY important to point out here is that Rachel reveals the torture program was developed BEFORE interrogations began. The Bush administration did not even TRY the CIA and FBI traditional, NON-torture techniques before resorting to this torture program.

[JoePalooka]

"Disambiguate?" Rachel must have been having a bad night to use a Bushism like that.

[Keith52]

It was tongue in cheek, using a kind of funny new word seemingly invented by the web developers. She was commenting on the idea that if you think there is any ambiguity on this issue, you can now rest assured there is no ambiguity. It has been "disambiguated".

[RRonin]

The thing I keep hearing on the news channels is the abject stupidity in torturing our enemies, because it would justify our enemie's use of torture against our own truth. There's nothing stupid about it. The loyal Bushies were HOPING our soldiers would be captured and tortured in order to gin up MORE hatred and violence on the part of the electorate and put permanent control in the hands of the Republicans. Imagine last week's teabaggers increased one hundredfold all howling for total war against anyone the Bushies declare our enemies. A Republican wet dream!

[Mitch rite]

I LOVE MR. BUNGLE!!

Wow, can't believe they got a shout-out

[DCX2]

Google "SERE". It's a training program that we designed decades ago to help our military people resist interrogation by the enemy. It was modeled on the torture methods used by the Chinese during the Korean War to generate false confessions.

Then, go look at the Senate Intelligence Committee report below. Page 81. We rendered Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi to Egypt so that the Egyptians could torture him and create the false confession that we needed to launch an attack on Iraq.

http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/phaseiiaccuracy.pdf

[UnknownSoldier]

I can see it now...............

Jesus was tortured to save us.......

Waterboarding at the local Amusement park right next to the roller coaster and the cotton candy machine.

[JohnSawyer]

"Jesus was tortured to save us"

You may be rather close to their way of thinking, and justifying things.

[Keith52]

Religion is exactly what is wrong the world today.

[inthewind]

Wow, that's some heavy stuff for the Bush Christian's to swallow. But they'll manage,

[somefool]

Def, those people don't let facts get in the way of their views.

[Levittown]

Ron Susskind in writing with Paul O'Neal ( Sec of the Treasury ) told of the pre-9/11 plans to invade Iraq for their oil. We knew then but the media gave them a pass. Does anyone think that the CIA will back up Cheneys lies ? Not after the way he submarined the integrity of the CIA and outed a covert agent, thereby endangering the entire intelligence corp. It is payback time inside the beltway.

[CherokeeGirl]

OH YES! EVERY LIFE IS VALUABLE, UNLESS THE SKIN COLOR IS BROWNISH

[enriquecaliente]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/

[Transcendentobserver]

A new high in contemporary journalism­--succinct­, revelatory, and comprehens­ive--expos­ing the sordid techniques in implementing the most egregious hegenomic epoch in American diplomatic history apparently solely to rationalize NeoCon hubris.

[sf girl]

Now that was a mouthful :)

[JohnSawyer]

hegemonic

[JoePalooka]

Now there's a red fish for ya!

[Kohimama]

Oh. My. God. As much as I despised Bush, Cheney and that entire cabal, I NEVER would have put this together. Torture for the sake of spin. Oh. My. God. President Obama, these criminals must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of OUR law.

[nomad27]

YEAH! Then we can go after the White Christians next because they don't follow you....the Cows for causing Global warming and anyone else on our "Hitlist". Then when the Republicans gain control of the White House they can do the same thing. And it'll start this vicious political cycle...getting even with your opponents sounds so fun!!

[CherokeeGirl]

say Wha? what the heck are you talking about?

this is about upholding the law.

now if a christian breaks the law, they will be accountable too.

get a clue.

[melbalicious]

When I saw this on Rachel's show last night it clarifed so much of this issue for me and I felt like this segment was something that every American should watch. She is so good at explaining things!