Jose Rodriguez (intelligence officer)

Last updated

In the campaign against Al-Qaeda, several senior leaders in the organization were captured by the CIA in 2002. They were subjected to what has been described as torture or enhanced interrogation techniques , according to the U.S. government. The interrogations of two of the captives were videotaped.

In 2005, while head of the Clandestine Service, Rodriguez ordered that videotape recordings of two 2002 CIA interrogations be destroyed. [15] CIA officials initially stated that the recordings were destroyed to protect the identity of the interrogators, after they were no longer of intelligence value to any investigations. [16] "He would always say, 'I'm not going to let my people get nailed for something they were ordered to do,'" said Robert Richer, Rodriguez's deputy recalling conversations with his boss about the tapes. [17] It was later revealed that the deputy to Kyle Foggo, then executive director of the CIA, wrote in an email that Rodriguez thought "the heat from destroying is nothing compared with what it would be if the tapes ever got into public domain—he said that out of context they would make us look terrible; it would be 'devastating' to us." [18]

The tapes reportedly showed two men held in CIA custody, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, [19] being subjected to a program of 'enhanced' interrogation techniques that included a procedure called waterboarding. Critics allege these methods amount to torture and the tapes were evidence both protected by court order and the 9/11 Commission. [20] [21] Rodriguez's record has come under scrutiny after it was reported that the destruction of the videotapes was allegedly in defiance of orders from then–CIA director Porter Goss. [22]

Summoned by congressional subpoena, he was excused from a January 16, 2008, House Intelligence Committee hearing on a request from his lawyer, Robert S. Bennett. [8] Rodriguez has requested immunity in exchange for his testimony on the tape recordings. [23] Larry C. Johnson, a former CIA analyst familiar with Rodriguez and the tapes, commented in a December 23, 2007 Sunday Times story that "it looks increasingly as though the decision was made by the White House." He also alleged it is "highly likely" that President George W. Bush saw one of the videos. [12]

After an exhaustive three-year investigation into the destruction of the videotapes of the interrogations (including pictures of the interrogators), the Justice Department announced in November 2010 it would not pursue any charges against Jose Rodriguez. [24] As The Washington Post reported, "Robert S. Bennett, an attorney for Rodriguez, said he is 'pleased that the Justice Department has decided not to go forward against Mr. Rodriguez. This is the right decision because of the facts and the law.'" [25] Commentator Glenn Greenwald described the decision as just another in a long line of instances of the Obama White House granting legal immunity to Bush-era crimes. [26]

Rodriguez continues to work in the private sector and recently provided interviews to Time in the aftermath of the death of Osama bin Laden. [27]

The New York Times Editorial board and Human Rights Watch have called for the prosecution of Rodriguez "for conspiracy to torture as well as other crimes." [28] [29]

Career after CIA

After reportedly being heavily recruited to join the international security firm Blackwater, Rodriguez instead joined the privately-owned National Interest Security Company in Fairfax, Virginia, which combined several formerly independent companies. [30] [31] [32] In NISC, Rodriguez was made a senior vice president in Edge Consulting, an intelligence assessment and strategy consulting group. [33] [34] Edge Consulting (now a part of IBM) was founded by Chris Whitlock and Frank Strickland to assess intelligence performance with special emphasis on Iraq and Afghanistan, while also working issues in the broader intelligence community. [35] [36] NISC was purchased by IBM in March 2010. [37] Rodriguez appeared in some press around the acquisition by IBM as part of the rationale for the big firm's purchase of NISC, with its specialization in the intelligence and defense communities. [38]

In 2012, Rodriguez's book Hard Measures was published. It details the story of the campaign against Al Qaeda. [39] This effort, or the CIA's lead portion of it, concerns the capture of a number of the key operational leaders in Al Qaeda's global network. Rodriguez recently told Time magazine that leads coming from key detainees early in the campaign against Al Qaeda were crucial in ultimately leading to the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound. Rodriguez readily admits the role of other sources and efforts, but argues the impact of the interrogation of senior leaders early on should not be lost. As Time reported directly, "Rodriguez agrees that other events played a role in developing the intelligence on bin Laden's whereabouts. And he says that despite widespread focus on KSM, al Libbi's information was the most important. Both KSM and al Libbi were held at CIA black sites and subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques," Rodriguez says. "Abu Faraj was not waterboarded, but his information on the courier was key." [40] Rodriguez's claims about the efficacy of torture in the manhunt for Osama bin Laden were directly contradicted by the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture, which reported that targeting of bin Laden's courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, was underway before the use of torture, and that the relevant intelligence was gained from detainees before subjecting them to torture. [41]

Publications

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abu Zubaydah</span> Saudi Arabian Guantanamo detainee

Abu Zubaydah is a Palestinian citizen and alleged terrorist born in Saudi Arabia currently held by the U.S. in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. He is held under the authority of Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special Activities Center</span> Unit of the American Central Intelligence Agency

The Special Activities Center (SAC) is a division of the United States Central Intelligence Agency responsible for covert and paramilitary operations. The unit was named Special Activities Division (SAD) prior to 2015. Within SAC there are two separate groups: SAC/SOG for tactical paramilitary operations and SAC/PAG for covert political action.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cofer Black</span> US intelligence officer and diplomat (born 1950)

Joseph Cofer Black is an American former CIA officer who served as director of the Counterterrorism Center in the years surrounding the September 11th attacks, and was later appointed Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the State Department by President George W. Bush, serving until his resignation in 2004. Prior to his roles combatting terrorism, Black served across the globe in a variety of roles with the Directorate of Operations at the CIA.

Osama bin Laden, the founder and former leader of al-Qaeda, went into hiding following the start of the War in Afghanistan in order to avoid capture by the United States and/or its allies for his role in the September 11 attacks, and having been on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list since 1999. After evading capture at the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001, his whereabouts became unclear, and various rumours about his health, continued role in al-Qaeda, and location were circulated. Bin Laden also released several video and audio recordings during this time.

American officials have reported that the late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had numerous bodyguards. They reported that the detainees held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp included at least 30 of Bin Laden's bodyguards.

"Enhanced interrogation techniques" or "enhanced interrogation" was a program of systematic torture of detainees by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and various components of the U.S. Armed Forces at remote sites around the world—including Bagram, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and Bucharest—authorized by officials of the George W. Bush administration. Methods used included beating, binding in contorted stress positions, hooding, subjection to deafening noise, sleep disruption, sleep deprivation to the point of hallucination, deprivation of food, drink, and medical care for wounds, as well as waterboarding, walling, sexual humiliation, rape, sexual assault, subjection to extreme heat or extreme cold, and confinement in small coffin-like boxes. A Guantanamo inmate's drawings of some of these tortures, to which he himself was subjected, were published in The New York Times. Some of these techniques fall under the category known as "white room torture". Several detainees endured medically unnecessary "rectal rehydration", "rectal fluid resuscitation", and "rectal feeding". In addition to brutalizing detainees, there were threats to their families such as threats to harm children, and threats to sexually abuse or to cut the throat of detainees' mothers.

Hassan Ghul, born Mustafa Hajji Muhammad Khan, was a Saudi-born Pakistani member of al-Qaeda who revealed the kunya of Osama bin Laden's messenger, which eventually led to Operation Neptune Spear and the death of Osama Bin Laden. Ghul was an ethnic Pashtun whose family was from Waziristan. He was designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee of the Security Council in 2012.

The CIA interrogation videotapes destruction occurred on November 9, 2005. The videotapes were made by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during interrogations of Al-Qaeda suspects Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in 2002 at a CIA black site prison in Thailand. Ninety tapes were made of Zubaydah and two of al-Nashiri. Twelve tapes depict interrogations using "enhanced interrogation techniques", a euphemism for torture. The tapes and their destruction became public knowledge in December 2007. A criminal investigation by a Department of Justice special prosecutor, John Durham, decided in 2010 to not file any criminal charges related to destroying the videotapes.

The Kathy Stewart Award is the highest honor bestowed in the Central Intelligence Agency's Office of General Counsel. The award, named for former CIA and State Department official Cynthia Kathleen Stewart, honors an employee "who reflects the highest standards of dedication to service, commitment to the rule of the law and genuine caring for others."

This is a list of activities ostensibly carried out by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) within Pakistan. It has been alleged by such authors as Ahmed Rashid that the CIA and ISI have been waging a clandestine war. The Afghan Taliban—with whom the United States was officially in conflict—was headquartered in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas during the war and according to some reports is largely funded by the ISI. The Pakistani government denies this.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad Rahim al Afghani</span> Afghan detainee

Muhammad Rahim is an Afghan who is held in captivity by the United States Government at Guantanamo Bay. He was born in eastern Afghanistan. Muhammad Rahim worked for an Afghan government committee that worked to eliminate opium poppies from the nation. He was forced to leave his job by the Taliban. In 1979, Rahim fled Afghanistan with his brother over the border of Pakistan. Their departure was triggered by the Soviet Union invasion into Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Soufan</span> Lebanese-American former FBI agent (born 1971)

Ali H. Soufan is a Lebanese-American former FBI agent who was involved in a number of high-profile anti-terrorism cases both in the United States and around the world. A 2006 New Yorker article described Soufan as coming closer than anyone to preventing the September 11 attacks and implied that he would have succeeded had the CIA been willing to share information with him. He resigned from the FBI in 2005 after publicly chastising the CIA for not sharing intelligence with him which could have prevented the attacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Mazzetti</span> American journalist

Mark Mazzetti is an American journalist who works for the New York Times. He is currently a Washington Investigative Correspondent for the Times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interrogation of Abu Zubaydah</span> Interrogation of a Saudi Arabian in U.S. custody

Abu Zubaydah is a Saudi citizen who helped manage the Khalden training camp in Afghanistan. Captured in Pakistan on March 28, 2002, he has since been held by the United States as an enemy combatant. Beginning in August 2002, Abu Zubaydah was the first prisoner to undergo "enhanced interrogation techniques." Since the Spanish Inquisition, these practices have been characterized as torture by many familiar with the techniques. There is disagreement among government sources as to how effective these techniques were; some officials contend that Abu Zubaydah gave his most valuable information before they were used; CIA lawyer John Rizzo said he gave more material afterward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John A. Rizzo</span> American attorney (1947–2021)

John Anthony Rizzo was an American attorney who worked as a lawyer in the Central Intelligence Agency for 34 years. He was the deputy counsel or acting general counsel of the CIA for the first nine years of the War on Terror, during which the CIA held dozens of detainees in black site prisons around the globe.

<i>Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden</i> 2013 American film

Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden is a 2013 documentary film directed by Greg Barker that explores the Central Intelligence Agency's investigation of Osama bin Laden, starting from 1995 until his death in 2011. It premiered on HBO on May 1, 2013, two years after the mission that killed bin Laden. The documentary features narratives by many of the CIA analysts and operatives who worked over a decade to understand and track bin Laden, and includes archival film footage from across Washington, D.C., Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East. It also features extensive and rarely seen footage of Al-Qaeda training and propaganda videos, including video suicide notes from various terrorists who later worked as suicide bombers.

Alfreda Frances Bikowsky is a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer who has headed the Bin Laden Issue Station and the Global Jihad unit. Bikowsky's identity is not publicly acknowledged by the CIA, but was deduced by independent investigative journalists in 2011. In January 2014, the Washington Post named her and tied her to a pre-9/11 intelligence failure and the extraordinary rendition of Khalid El-Masri. The Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture, released in December 2014, showed that Bikowsky was not only a key part of the torture program but also one of its chief apologists, resulting in the media's giving her the moniker "The Unidentified Queen of Torture."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Eatinger</span> American lawyer

Robert Joseph "Bob" Eatinger was Deputy General Counsel for Operations for the Central Intelligence Agency, serving as Acting General Counsel of the CIA from 2009 to March 2014. He has served as a lawyer in various capacities, in the CIA and Navy during the U.S. War on Terror, during which the CIA held dozens of detainees in black site prisons around the globe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture</span> Report of the United States government

The Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program is a report compiled by the bipartisan United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) about the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)'s Detention and Interrogation Program and its use of torture during interrogation in U.S. government communiqués on detainees in CIA custody. The report covers CIA activities before, during, and after the "War on Terror". The initial report was approved on December 13, 2012, by a vote of 9–6, with seven Democrats, one Independent, and one Republican voting in favor of the report and six Republicans voting in opposition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gina Haspel</span> American intelligence officer (born 1956)

Gina Cheri Walker Haspel is an American intelligence officer who was the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from May 21, 2018, to January 20, 2021. She was the agency's deputy director from 2017 to 2018 under Mike Pompeo, and became acting director on April 26, 2018, after Pompeo became U.S. secretary of state. She was later nominated and confirmed to the role, making her the first woman to become CIA director on a permanent basis.

References

  1. ↑ Vest, Jason (December 3, 2004). "Politicized espionage: Insiders fear that changeovers at the CIA will weaken the agency". The Phoenix . Archived from the original on March 20, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2007.
  2. ↑ "About the CIA". The Central Intelligence Agency. June 13, 2007. Archived from the original on June 12, 2007. Retrieved September 3, 2007.
  3. ↑ Fang, Lee (November 11, 2016). "Donald Trump May Select an Architect of Bush's Torture Program to Run CIA". The Intercept. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  4. ↑ Golden, Tim (May 9, 2018). "Haspel, Spies and Videotapes". ProPublica. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  5. ↑ Shrader, Katherine (August 8, 2007). "Longtime CIA Spy Unmasks for Retirement". The Washington Post . Associated Press. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  6. ↑ Mazzetti, Mark; Shane, Scott (February 20, 2008). "Tape Inquiry: Ex-Spymaster in the Middle". New York Times. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Salim v. Mitchell - Jose Rodriguez Deposition Transcript". www.thetorturedatabase.org. ACLU. March 7, 2017. ACLU-RDI 6806.
  8. 1 2 "Station Chief Made Appeal To Destroy CIA Tapes". Washington Post . January 16, 2008. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Statement by CIA Spokesman Bill Harlow – Central Intelligence Agency". Cia.gov. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  10. ↑ Diamond, John (November 18, 2004). "CIA plans riskier, more aggressive espionage". USA Today. Retrieved September 3, 2007.
  11. ↑ Gellman, Barton; Dafna Linzer (February 7, 2006). "Top Counterterrorism Officer Removed Amid Turmoil at CIA". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 3, 2007.
  12. 1 2 Baxter, Sarah (December 23, 2007). "CIA chief to drag White House into torture coverup storm". The Times. London. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  13. ↑ Mazzetti, Mark (December 10, 2007). "C.I.A. Official in Inquiry Called a 'Hero'". The New York Times.
  14. ↑ Mazzetti, Mark (December 10, 2007). "C.I.A. Official in Inquiry Called a 'Hero'". The New York Times. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  15. ↑ Mazzetti, Mark (December 7, 2007). "C.I.A. Destroyed 2 Tapes Showing Interrogations". The New York Times. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  16. ↑ Calabresi, Massimo (December 7, 2007). "CIA Tapes Furor: A Legacy of Mistrust". Time. Archived from the original on December 8, 2007. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  17. ↑ Mazzetti, Mark; Shane, Scott (December 31, 1969). "Jose Rodriguez, center of tapes inquiry, was protective of his CIA subordinates". The New York Times.
  18. ↑ Finn, Peter; Tate, Julie (April 15, 2010). "2005 Destruction of Interrogation Tapes Caused Concern at CIA, e-mails Show". The Washington Post . Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  19. ↑ Kean, Thomas H.; Hamilton, Lee H. (January 2, 2008). "Stonewalled by the C.I.A". The New York Times. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  20. ↑ "The Man Who Ordered CIA's Tape Destruction, José Rodríguez Ordered Tapes of Terror Interrogations Destroyed Without Telling CIA Director". CBS News. December 11, 2007. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  21. ↑ "White House: Miers Told CIA to Save Tapes". ABC News. December 7, 2007. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  22. ↑ Scott Shane And Mark Mazzetti (December 30, 2007). "Tapes by C.I.A. Lived and Died to Save Image – New York Times". The New York Times. Abu Ghraib (Iraq). Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  23. ↑ Eggen, Dan; Warrick, Joby (January 10, 2008). "Ex-CIA Official May Refuse to Testify About Videotapes". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  24. ↑ Johnson, Carrie (November 9, 2010). "No Charges to Be Filed for Destruction of CIA Interrogation Tapes". NPR. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  25. ↑ Markon, Jerry (November 9, 2010). "No charges in destruction of CIA videotapes, Justice Department says". The Washington Post.
  26. ↑ "The Jose Rodriguez lesson". May 1, 2012.
  27. ↑ Fastenberg, Dan (May 4, 2011). "Enhanced Interrogation". TIME . Archived from the original on May 6, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  28. ↑ "No More Excuses: A Roadmap to Justice for CIA Torture". hrw.org. Human Rights Watch. December 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Prosecute Torturers and Their Bosses". The New York Times . December 21, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Revolving Door to Blackwater Causes Alarm at CIA, By Ken Silverstein (Harper's Magazine)". Harpers.org. September 11, 2001. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  31. ↑ "José Rodríguez joins National Interest Security Company". Nisc-llc.com. October 7, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  32. ↑ "National Interest Security Company – A Leading Provider of Information, Management, and Technology Services". Nisc-llc.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  33. ↑ "National Interest Security Company – A Leading Provider of Information, Management, and Technology Services". Nisc-llc.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  34. ↑ http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jose-rodriguez/b/208/918 [ self-published source ]
  35. ↑ "Chris Whitlock". LinkedIn. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  36. ↑ "NISC – Jose Rodriguez, former Director of the CIA National Clandestine Service, joins National Interest Security Company". Nisc-llc.com. October 7, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  37. ↑ "IBM News room – 2010-03-02 IBM Completes Acquisition of National Interest Security Company – United States". 03.ibm.com. March 2, 2010. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  38. ↑ "IBM buying National Interest Security Company – security, NISC, mergers and acquisitions, IBM – Security". Techworld. January 21, 2010. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  39. ↑ "SpyTalk: Ex-CIA Official Jose Rodriguez Inks Book Contract, Claims Torture Led to Bin Laden". Spytalkblog.blogspot.com. May 5, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  40. ↑ Calabresi, Massimo (May 4, 2011). "Ex-CIA Counterterror Chief: 'Enhanced Interrogation' Led U.S. to bin Laden". Time .
  41. ↑ Blair, David (December 10, 2014). "CIA torture report: enhanced interrogation helped us catch Osama bin Laden". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved September 4, 2018.
Jose Rodriguez
Jose Rodriguez CIA photograph.jpg
Director of the National Clandestine Service
In office
November 16, 2004 –September 30, 2007
Government offices
Preceded by CIA Deputy Director for Operations
November 2004 – October 13, 2005		Succeeded by
Upgraded
Preceded by
Initial Director
 Director of the National Clandestine Service
October 13, 2005 – September 30, 2007		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.