Traitor, Not a Whistleblower: John Kiriakou

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Last Friday, ex-CIA officer John Kiriakou was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison by federal judge Leonie Brinkema under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. It’s the first time that a CIA officer will serve prison time for disclosing classified information to news media.

The judge rejected his claims that he acted in the interests of the nation as a whistleblower:

A plea deal required the judge to impose a sentence of 2 1/2 years. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said she would have given John Kiriakou much more time if she could.

Kiriakou’s supporters describe him as a whistleblower who exposed aspects of the CIA’s use of torture against detained terrorists. Prosecutors said he was merely seeking to increase his fame by trading on his insider knowledge.

Kiriakou’s 2007 interviews about the interrogations of al-Qaida terrorist Abu Zubaydah were among the first by a CIA insider confirming reports that several detainees had been waterboarded.

How exactly is he a whistleblower when the issue of waterboarding had already been leaked by the time he “spoke out”?

Kiriakou’s claims in 2007:

In the first public comment by any CIA officer involved in handling high-value al Qaeda targets, John Kiriakou, now retired, said the technique broke Zubaydah in less than 35 seconds.

“The next day, he told his interrogator that Allah had visited him in his cell during the night and told him to cooperate,” said Kiriakou in an interview to be broadcast tonight on ABC News’ “World News With Charles Gibson” and “Nightline.”

“From that day on, he answered every question,” Kiriakou said. “The threat information he provided disrupted a number of attacks, maybe dozens of attacks.”

~~~

Now retired, Kiriakou, who declined to use the enhanced interrogation techniques, says he has come to believe that water boarding is torture but that perhaps the circumstances warranted it.

“Like a lot of Americans, I’m involved in this internal, intellectual battle with myself weighing the idea that waterboarding may be torture versus the quality of information that we often get after using the waterboarding technique,” Kiriakou told ABC News. “And I struggle with it.”

And then of course, there was his self-serving 2010 book, Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA’s War on Terror. After 190 pages into a 192 page book, we get this beautiful admission:

What I told Brian Ross in late 2007 was wrong on a couple of counts. I suggested that Abu Zubaydah had lasted only thirty or thirty-five seconds during his waterboarding before he begged his interrogators to stop; after that, I said he opened up and gave the agency actionable intelligence. I wasn’t there when the interrogation took place; instead, I relied on what I’d heard and read inside the agency at the time. Now, we know that Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded eighty-three times in a single month, raising questions about how much useful information he actually supplied. In retrospect, it was a valuable lesson in how the CIA uses the arts of deception even among its own.

The national debate on waterboarding and other forms of torture got a second wind early in Obama’s presidency, and I’m proud to have played a small part in it.

Get that? He never actually witnessed the act of waterboarding by CIA interrogators. He acted on hearsay. And now he wants to play the role of martyred, conscientious whistleblower.

Kiriakou is not a patriot but a traitor who has endangered lives of patriots for his own glory-seeking:

In court papers, prosecutors said the investigation of Kiriakou began in 2009 when authorities became alarmed after discovering that detainees at Guantanamo Bay possessed photographs of CIA and FBI personnel who had interrogated them. The investigation eventually led back to Kiriakou, according to a government affidavit.

Prosecutors said Kiriakou leaked the name of a covert operative to a journalist, who disclosed it to an investigator working for the lawyer of a Guantanamo detainee.

Kiriakou was initially charged under the World War I-era Espionage Act, but those charges were dropped as part of a plea bargain.

NYTimes:

Judge Brinkema said, “This is not a case of a whistle-blower.” She went on to describe how the identity of the C.I.A. officer working under cover had been revealed by Mr. Kiriakou’s disclosures, and the damage it had caused the agency, based on a sealed statement from the undercover agent.

Moments before issuing the sentence, Judge Brinkema asked Mr. Kiriakou if he had anything to say. When he declined, the judge said, “Perhaps you have already spoken too much.”

After the hearing, Mr. Kiriakou, who did not begin his sentence on Friday and was allowed to leave the courthouse, addressed members of the news media for a few minutes.

“I come out of the court positive, confident and optimistic,” he said, thanking supporters.

Sentenced and condemned in a court of law, Kiriakou seeks to win in the court of public opinion, buoyed by the support of the misguided anti-torture activists. And of course he has his supporters in high places:

This week, Bruce O. Riedel, who was appointed by President Obama to lead a review of United States policies in Afghanistan, sent a letter to the president asking him to commute Mr. Kiriakou’s sentence. The letter was signed by many others, including former C.I.A. officers.

Commute an already light 2 1/2 yr sentence? Really?!

In subsequent e-mail exchanges with a freelance writer, Mr. Kiriakou disclosed the name of one of his former colleagues, who was still under cover and had been a part of the detention and interrogation program.

The freelancer later passed the name of the undercover agent to lawyers representing several Qaeda suspects being held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

The lawyers later included the name in a sealed legal filing, angering government officials and kick-starting the federal investigation that ultimately ensnared Mr. Kiriakou. The name was not disclosed publicly at the time, but it appeared on an obscure Web site last October. In January 2012, federal prosecutors indicted Mr. Kiriakou, accusing him of disclosing the identity of an agency analyst who had worked on the 2002 raid that led to Abu Zubaydah’s capture and interrogation.

The prosecutors said Mr. Kiriakou had been a source for a New York Times article in 2008 written by Scott Shane that said a C.I.A. employee named Deuce Martinez had played a role in the interrogation. When Mr. Kiriakou pleaded guilty last October, the charges stemming from that disclosure were dropped along with several others.

Prosecutors raised questions this week about Mr. Kiriakou’s contrition. In a filing, prosecutors cited a lengthy article by Mr. Shane published this month in The Times in which he quoted Mr. Kiriakou as saying that if he had known that the C.I.A. officer was still under cover, he would not have disclosed his identity.

The prosecutors said that Mr. Kiriakou’s intimation that the disclosure was an “accident or mistake” contradicted his plea that he had willfully disclosed the information.

This is the man lionized on the left as some sort of anti-torture hero. And this is just rich:

The most surreal aspect of the sentencing was the huge emphasis placed on how Kiriakou’s action endangered the supposedly-undercover officer and damaged the CIA’s ability to collect intelligence. But the public never heard a single word about how exactly the officer’s life was “endangered” (only that some family members had not known he worked for the CIA) because that assessment was in a secret statement that even the defendant was not allowed to see–because the government pulled Kiriakou’s security clearance the day before–specifically so he could not see what “damage” he was about to go to jail for causing.

If the “supposedly-undercover officer” had the name “Valerie Plame”, then the left would be in an uproar.

John Kiriakou: Self-serving scumbag. Acting out of self-interest, not concern for national-interests.

Here he is on The Today Show, today:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYF3w6hYXw8[/youtube]

*UPDATE*

Forgot to add mention, as a side note, the following related interest:

Watching ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ with the CIA: Separating fact from fiction

AEI’s Marc Thiessen (author of “Courting Disaster: How the CIA Kept America Safe and How Barack Obama Is Inviting the Next Attack”) will host a panel discussion with three CIA veterans who were involved in the hunt for bin Laden.

Panelists:
General Michael Hayden (ret.), Former Director CIA
John A. Rizzo, Former Chief Legal Officer at CIA
Jose Rodriguez, Former Director National Clandestine Service

Tuesday, January 29, 2013 | 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

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I was tortured for almost 3 years by the FBI and their friends only
because 85 years old man, Roland, H Sibens(chicago)now he is 88, convinced them that I
am a terrorist. I was tortured for working on my prosthetic legs in
the basement. I done absolutely nothing illegal or wrong. They thought
that in theory it is possible to hide bomb in them. They saw an
opportunity to get famous, so they were trying to torture me till I
sign their insane story. They tortured me using more than 100
different torturing methods and trust to me waterboarding is not how
they torture nowadays. I dont know where to find justice.

I think that after 9/11 things got out of control. Freedom fighters
became tyrants. In 1945, most Germans had an opportunity to learn about Nazis death
camps. I hope that one day American citizens will get chance to learn about people
like me, who were tortured with no reason for years.

I want people to know that they can be tortured by their own gov just because of misunderstanding for some greater good. It seems like majority of people in our country support torture.

I am white and christian, also I am disabled man. I lost both of my legs in a car accident when I was 20. I want those who support torture to know that our gov saved no one by torturing me and that they r partially responsible for what happened to me.

I know (and have known) many men who did things they were told to never share with the public.
A boss I had when I was a private investigator was one of those men.
He had been in special forces, the Navy.

He had a very troubled demeanor from time to time.
He got real quiet.
He also went off the rails with drink from time to time.
But he NEVER broke and told about things that were top secret.
It was part of his character.

When he was killed in a multi-car pile up (not his fault) he took to his grave lots of secrets.
He was a man of integrity.

The US government now states that Abu Zubaydah was never a member of Al Qaeda. The group that he was with was at odds with the Arabs. That was why he had to be waterboarded 83 times, because he did not have the information that the interrogators wanted him to divulge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Zubaydah But, in September 2009, the Obama administration acknowledged during Abu Zubaydah’s habeas corpus petition, that Abu Zubaydah had never been a member of al-Qaeda, nor involved in the attacks on the African embassies in 1998, nor the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.[165] The motion, filed by the United States Government, states:
Evidence indicating that Petitioner is not a member of al-Qaida or had ideological differences with al-Qaida is not inconsistent with the factual allegations made in the Government’s factual return, because the Government has not contended in this proceeding that Petitioner was a member of al-Qaida or otherwise formally identified with al-Qaida. Pg. 35, 36
Respondent [The United States Government] does not contend that Petitioner [Abu Zubaydah] was a “member” of al-Qaida in the sense of having sworn a bayat (allegiance) or having otherwise satisfied any formal criteria that either Petitioner [Abu Zubaydah] or al-Qaida may have considered necessary for inclusion in al-Qaida. Nor is the Government detaining Petitioner [Abu Zubaydah] based on any allegation that Petitioner [Abu Zubaydah] views himself as part of al-Qaida as a matter of subjective personal conscience, ideology, or worldview. Pg. 36
The Government has not contended in this proceeding that Petitioner [Abu Zubaydah] had any direct role in or advance knowledge of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Pg. 82
For example, for purposes of this proceeding the Government has not contended that Petitioner [Abu Zubaydah] had any personal involvement in planning or executing either the 1998 embassy bombings… or the attacks on September 11, 2001. Pg. 34
[edit]
Because of the torture it is now going to be very difficult to convict anyone either in a military commission format.
There have only been 6 convictions at Gitmo in 10 years ,4 were plea bargains (mostly for essentially time served; 2 done as favors to foreign conservative governments in Australia and Canada) the only 2 convictions by the military commission court were both recently overturned in Federal Court. Had KSM been tried in New York 3 years ago he would have pled guilty and been already sentenced (he was/is hoping for the death penalty) but because of public opposition from the right wing, Holder agreed to have the trials in Gitmo. There has been?will continue to be little hope of conviction there.

As far as him being “lionized” by the left, as many on the right did the same for his apparent approval of torture. http://www.navytimes.com/news/2013/01/ap-verdict-reversals-guantanamo-trials-012713/
This is the link about the verdicts being overturned.

@Wordsmith: Furthermore, whether or not Zubaydah had sworn bayat or not to OBL is irrelevant to his knowledge of and cooperation with al-Qaeda operatives and senior leadership (including KSM); and his long-time seniority role as a terror leader and suspect.

Great point, Word.
When you’re dealing with an underground organization rather than a state-sanctioned spy you just can never know.
In fact in WWII the Nazis shot down a civilian plane because they were so sure one passenger, actor Leslie Howard, was a spy for the Brits/allies.
No admission has ever been officially made, however.

KSM did the work of an Islamic terrorist leader.
IF he were freed he would be honored by Islamists in many countries.
And the USA would be putting another nail in its weak horse’s shoe.
We would, by our weakness, be accelerating the jihad against our portion of Dal al Harb, the world outside of Islam.

@Wordsmith: Well, you dont want to know the details of their torturing procedures, and it is hard to describe them. for example, ass penetration with a piece of wood.

@jacob gabel:

for example, ass penetration with a piece of wood.

Wow…that’s quite a tale. Did they penetrate your skull with sawdust too?

jacob gabel
UNLESS YOU SUFFER OF ALZEIMER DELUSION, WHICH MAKE A PERSON BELIEVE SOMETHING NOT REAL,
I don’t see no reason why you would lie. AND FOR WHAT COUNTRY WOULD THEY THINK YOU ARE TERRORIST?
YOUR NAME SUGGEST JEWISH AM I RIGHT?
can you tell when this torture happen what year, and give a name
or the 3 names of those FBI OFFICERS, SO WE CAN VERIFY AND EXPOSE THEM
FOR TORTURING A PERSON ON A STATEMENT OF ONE PERSON WITHOUT PROOF.
THEY DESERVE TO BE ANSWERING QUESTIONS PUBLICLY.
BEST TO YOU

@Wordsmith:

“A global jihad movement.”

One the US helped to create in the 80s, and will continue to nurture in creating a valid enemy for their hatred by inflicting violent injustice on the world. The US will always have enemies because it seeks nothing but to create them. The war machine couldn’t be happier.

Wordsmith
they really got back at the US, BY SUPPORTING AN ANTI AMERICAN PRESIDENT TO BE
after PRESIDENT BUSH END HIS TERM,
I think it was their strategy all along to plant a hater in the WHITE HOUSE,
THEY OWN SHARES IN MANY MEDIAS and they command what they want, they own the UN
which does any thing they want done,
it cost them a lot of money to realize their wish in 2008,
but there is no problem with money for them, they see result now, they have now here their own MEDIA
and are anxiously waiting for the full circle to be join.
that’s my take, AMERICA is in to her neck, how does she will get out of it, and return to her roots,
someone in GOVERNMENT TODAY AT FOX SAID AMERICA IS NOT THE SAME, IT CHANGED RADICALY,
NOW TAKE NOTE, WE WON’T LET HER DIE
bye

[quote]Furthermore, there is nothing wrong with forming alliances and supporting other groups and governments at one point in history[/quote]

Funny, that’s certainly not a luxury extended to anyone else in the world. If someone in the 90s aided an enemy of America, to our military that is certainly a demerit against them, and possibly even just cause for illegally detaining them; but if instead America trained and funded terrorists, it was simply a logical choice given the circumstances of the time.

And now you’re telling me our actions at the time were justifiable because “Well, the soviets did it”? It’s easy to blame Islam for everything when you can claim unabashedly that your own actions (which generated their hatred to begin with) were justified more or less by our ignorance.

And look how wonderfully our power play attempts worked out–now we have “enemies” in the region with entirely just reasons for hating the US (look up why OBL feels the way he does about the US–it has more to do with bombings in Lebanon than any fairy tale about hating freedom). Using the same logic that got us into this mess, now our military we create more “enemies” by the day through objectively unjust and cruel treatment of non-americans.

With your mindset, there will always be an enemy.

Are you still licking your wounds about Iraq, or have you finally realized that that whole thing was a terrible idea?

IRAQ A TERRIBLE IDEA? NO
WAS 9/11 NUMBER 1 A TERRIBLE IDEA? YES
HOW DARE THEY CAME IN AMERICA TO KILL AND DESTROY?
WHERE WE SUPPOSE TO SWALLOW THE BLOOD SPILL
AND APOLOGIZE? NO
THE WORSE OF THEM WAS IRAQ, AND IT HAD TO BE SHAKEN LIKE A RAG,
THE PROBLEM IS THAT COMPASSION THE MILITARY HAVE SINCE AMERICA IS BORN,
THEY ARE TOLERANT AND COMPASSIONATE SO MUCH AS TO LEAVE SOME STANDING UP,
WHERE THE WHOLE IRAQ SHOULD HAVE BEEN ERADICATE, BUT NO
THE AMERICANS REMEMBER THE WORDS IN THE BIBLE; IS THERE SOME JUST PEOPLE LEFT?
AND THEY FOUND THE JUST AND HELP THEM GET RID OF A TYRANT WITH BLOODY HANDS,

WORDSMITH
IF YOU SAID ANYTHING ABOUT HIM,
I think it was true, from what I know of you,
even the criminals do good thing for who they care for,
bye

John Kiriakou is a traitor. In this case he gave classified information to the media instead of a foreign government. This Whistle Blower mantle is nonense. He was not trying to stop any illegal action. The enhanced interrogation methods were legal and everyone in our government knew about them. John Kiriakoua’s motives were personal gain. He was hoping to become a media star.The judge was correct, he should have been given more jail time. Note he still may become a media star after he finishes his sentence.

@jacob gabel: you are a liar.