The C.I.A. officers used waterboarding at least 83 times in August 2002 against Abu Zubaydah, according to a 2005 Justice Department legal memorandum. Abu Zubaydah has been described as a Qaeda operative.But, yes, let's just move on and put all this ugliness behind us like it never happened.
A former C.I.A. officer, John Kiriakou, told ABC News and other news media organizations in 2007 that Abu Zubaydah had undergone waterboarding for only 35 seconds before agreeing to tell everything he knew.
At a certain point, if details like this continue to be unearthed—and there's categorically no reason to assume this is the last of it—President Obama's exceedingly premature admonishments to move on are going to make him look either incredibly foolish or incredibly unethical, quite possibly both.
And I'm pretty certain the last thing anyone who voted for him wanted was his complicity in helping to sweep Bush administration war crimes under the Oval Office rug.
Via Emptywheel, who is personally responsible for this information getting the attention it deserves: Sign the petition telling Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate torture here.
Meanwhile: "Obama presidency keeps some Bush secrets: Despite open government pledge, administration keeps lid on FBI database." Fantastic.
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