Gerald Posner: Why protect the Saudi royal family and Pakistani military?
[Gerald Posner is a journalist and author of Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11. He is a member of the board of HNN.]
On Wednesday, President Bush admitted officially for the first time that the CIA held some foreign terror suspects abroad. In his remarks, he spoke about Abu Zubaydah, whom I discussed at length in Chapter 19, ''The Interrogation,'' of my 2003 book, Why America Slept.
Bush acknowledged some of the information I disclosed, that Zubaydah was wounded when captured, that he did not initially cooperate with his interrogators and that eventually when he did talk, his information was, according to Bush, ``quite important.''
Bush credits Zubaydah with helping, in part, to capture terror kingpin Khalid Sheik Mohammed, giving information that stopped a previously unknown terror strike from happening, and providing details about other al Qaeda operatives.
But Bush did not mention what I had disclosed -- that Zubaydah had also named three Saudi princes -- one of whom was the king's nephew -- and the chief of Pakistan's air force, as his chief contacts in those two countries. Moreover, Zubaydah told American investigators that two of those he named -- and for which he provided their private telephone numbers -- had advance knowledge about the 9/11 attacks.
It would be nice to pursue the investigation of these men, but all four named by Zubaydah are now dead. As for the three Saudi princes:
• The king's 43-year-old nephew, Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdul-Aziz, died of either a heart attack or blood clot, depending on which report you believe.
• The second, 41-year-old Prince Sultan bin Faisal bin Turki al-Saud, died the following day in a one-car accident.
• And the third Saudi prince named by Zubaydah, 25-year-old Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Saud al-Kabir, died, according to the Saudi Royal Court, ``of thirst.''
The head of Pakistan's Air Force, Mushaf Ali Mir, died together with his wife and fifteen of his top aides when his plane blew up -- suspected as sabotage -- in February 2003.
Bush did not refer to any of this in his comments. Not surprising, since the 9/11 Commission did not mention the dead men named by Zubaydah. Moreover, as I revealed nearly three years ago, the CIA extracted the information from Zubaydah by pulling off a ''fake flag'' operation, in which Zubaydah thought he was in Saudi custody and gave the names of the princes in an attempt to get himself freed.
Moreover, U.S. interrogators used pain killers to induce Zubaydah to talk -- they gave him the meds when he cooperated, and withdrew them when he was quiet.
Bush did not give particulars, but did say, ``We knew that Zubaydah had more information that could save innocent lives, but he stopped talking. As his questioning proceeded, it became clear that he had received training on how to resist interrogation. And so the CIA used an alternative set of procedures. These procedures were designed to be safe, to comply with our laws, our Constitution and our treaty obligations. The Department of Justice reviewed the authorized methods extensively and determined them to be lawful.
``I cannot describe the specific methods used -- I think you understand why -- if I did, it would help the terrorists learn how to resist questioning, and to keep information from us that we need to prevent new attacks on our country. But I can say the procedures were tough, and they were safe, and lawful and necessary.''
Why does Bush, and the CIA, continue to protect the Saudi royal family and the Pakistani military, from the implications of Zubaydah's confessions? It is, or course, because the Bush administration desperately needs Pakistani and Saudi help, not only to keep Afghanistan from spinning completely out of control, but also as counterweights to the growing power of Iran.
The Sunni governments in Riyadh and Islamabad have as much to fear from a resurgent Iran as does the Bush administration. But does this mean that leads about the origins of 9/11 should not be aggressively pursued? Of course not. But this is precisely what the Bush administration is doing.
The president should not be allowed to selectively trot out parts of Zubaydah's ''confessions'' to support the CIA's interrogation techniques, without talking about Zubaydah's naming of Saudi royals and Pakistani military officers. The victims of 9/11 deserve no less than the complete truth as the fifth anniversary draws near.
Read entire article at Miami Herald
On Wednesday, President Bush admitted officially for the first time that the CIA held some foreign terror suspects abroad. In his remarks, he spoke about Abu Zubaydah, whom I discussed at length in Chapter 19, ''The Interrogation,'' of my 2003 book, Why America Slept.
Bush acknowledged some of the information I disclosed, that Zubaydah was wounded when captured, that he did not initially cooperate with his interrogators and that eventually when he did talk, his information was, according to Bush, ``quite important.''
Bush credits Zubaydah with helping, in part, to capture terror kingpin Khalid Sheik Mohammed, giving information that stopped a previously unknown terror strike from happening, and providing details about other al Qaeda operatives.
But Bush did not mention what I had disclosed -- that Zubaydah had also named three Saudi princes -- one of whom was the king's nephew -- and the chief of Pakistan's air force, as his chief contacts in those two countries. Moreover, Zubaydah told American investigators that two of those he named -- and for which he provided their private telephone numbers -- had advance knowledge about the 9/11 attacks.
It would be nice to pursue the investigation of these men, but all four named by Zubaydah are now dead. As for the three Saudi princes:
• The king's 43-year-old nephew, Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdul-Aziz, died of either a heart attack or blood clot, depending on which report you believe.
• The second, 41-year-old Prince Sultan bin Faisal bin Turki al-Saud, died the following day in a one-car accident.
• And the third Saudi prince named by Zubaydah, 25-year-old Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Saud al-Kabir, died, according to the Saudi Royal Court, ``of thirst.''
The head of Pakistan's Air Force, Mushaf Ali Mir, died together with his wife and fifteen of his top aides when his plane blew up -- suspected as sabotage -- in February 2003.
Bush did not refer to any of this in his comments. Not surprising, since the 9/11 Commission did not mention the dead men named by Zubaydah. Moreover, as I revealed nearly three years ago, the CIA extracted the information from Zubaydah by pulling off a ''fake flag'' operation, in which Zubaydah thought he was in Saudi custody and gave the names of the princes in an attempt to get himself freed.
Moreover, U.S. interrogators used pain killers to induce Zubaydah to talk -- they gave him the meds when he cooperated, and withdrew them when he was quiet.
Bush did not give particulars, but did say, ``We knew that Zubaydah had more information that could save innocent lives, but he stopped talking. As his questioning proceeded, it became clear that he had received training on how to resist interrogation. And so the CIA used an alternative set of procedures. These procedures were designed to be safe, to comply with our laws, our Constitution and our treaty obligations. The Department of Justice reviewed the authorized methods extensively and determined them to be lawful.
``I cannot describe the specific methods used -- I think you understand why -- if I did, it would help the terrorists learn how to resist questioning, and to keep information from us that we need to prevent new attacks on our country. But I can say the procedures were tough, and they were safe, and lawful and necessary.''
Why does Bush, and the CIA, continue to protect the Saudi royal family and the Pakistani military, from the implications of Zubaydah's confessions? It is, or course, because the Bush administration desperately needs Pakistani and Saudi help, not only to keep Afghanistan from spinning completely out of control, but also as counterweights to the growing power of Iran.
The Sunni governments in Riyadh and Islamabad have as much to fear from a resurgent Iran as does the Bush administration. But does this mean that leads about the origins of 9/11 should not be aggressively pursued? Of course not. But this is precisely what the Bush administration is doing.
The president should not be allowed to selectively trot out parts of Zubaydah's ''confessions'' to support the CIA's interrogation techniques, without talking about Zubaydah's naming of Saudi royals and Pakistani military officers. The victims of 9/11 deserve no less than the complete truth as the fifth anniversary draws near.