Former CIA agent and whistleblower on waterboarding.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kiriakou

I didn't really start reading about or paying attention to the CIA until Trump's first term, and didnt really know about this guy until a week ago when a YouTube short popped up where he was s***-talking John Kerry.

That led me to the interview below (two parter).

He tells some interesting stories, including being recruited in college by a professor (who was actually a CIA agent), his time as the Saddam Hussein expert at the CIA just before, and during, the Kuwait invasion, covert operations in the Middle East and Pakistan, and his legal history (most of which is near the end of the second video). The guy can certainly tell a story. The interviewer isn't that great.

As with all things CIA, I am generally skeptical, and wanted to get the board's thoughts on this guy and the fallout from his whistleblowing as I was still at A&M when this news originally came out.

I think he's a bit naive in thinking that the Constitutional protections should apply to foreign combatants. We didn't need to read Japan their Miranda rights before nuking their asses, for example.

But regarding his experiences about life at the agency, he is spot on. It's clear he is not lying about having worked there. Other "experts" seem get their insider info by watching Bourne movies. That's not the case with Kiriakou.

Pretty sure Shawn Ryan did an interview with him as well, check that one out. I don't know whose show but there is another podcast with john and Andrew bustamonte together. Really interesting to hear them together. I'm currently listening to him on dalton Fischer's podcast.

Pretty interesting stuff and viewpoints…..

He knows how to tell a story in an interesting and engaging manor. I generally believe he tries to tell the truth.

His insights into guys like former CIA director Brennan as a person and how he dumb lucked his way to the top are at least entertaining if not also insightful.

It's not waterboarding if you use diesel.

I have no love lost for enemy combatants, conspirators, or enablers.

Madman said:

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He knows how to tell a story in an interesting and engaging manor. I generally believe he tries to tell the truth.

His insights into guys like former CIA director Brennan as a person and how he dumb lucked his way to the top are at least entertaining if not also insightful.

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I got a laugh out of the brief moment he was bad-mouthing Brennan in the interview.

Did he mention the woman who was the primary subject of the movie Zero Dark Thirty? She was the station chief of the Bin Laden station at the time of 9-11, I believe, and was a key promoter of the water boarding program.

Joseph in Cypress said:

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Pretty sure Shawn Ryan did an interview with him as well, check that one out. I don't know whose show but there is another podcast with john and Andrew bustamonte together. Really interesting to hear them together. I'm currently listening to him on dalton Fischer's podcast.

Pretty interesting stuff and viewpoints…..

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Haven't listened to a Bustamante interview yet, but I do remember his Reddit "Ask Me Anything" where he said that the CIA was essentially run by the Mormon Church and Texas A&M.

TheCurl84 said:

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Did he mention the woman who was the primary subject of the movie Zero Dark Thirty? She was the station chief of the Bin Laden station at the time of 9-11, I believe, and was a key promoter of the water boarding program.

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I think he mentioned her/talked about her for about five seconds. The majority of his interview time was talking about how they captured/interrogated Abu Zubaydah (which is where I think he briefly mentioned her) and his work in Greece as an operative against 17N.

Back in the day when I was in the Marines during SERE training instructors could water board back then. Then I think DOD stopped it around 2008. When I went through Marine SERE school the goal was SERE training provides "a reasonable means to train [U.S. military personnel] for the most challenging captivity environment where captors do not abide by the Geneva Conventions.

EskimoJoe said:

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It's not waterboarding if you use diesel.

I have no love lost for enemy combatants, conspirators, or enablers.

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I prefer the higher viscosity of motor oil myself...

If this is the same guy, he tried to blow the whistle on waterboarding and the completely ineffective enhanced interrogation program but he was the one who ended up going to jail. He let an agent's name slip to a book writer who turned out to be on the Fed payroll. They wanted him out.

His story about catching the al-Qaeda finance guy is wild.

It's not torture if they enjoy it.

Quote:

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We didn't need to read Japan their Miranda rights before nuking their asses, for example.

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But the leaflets we dropped before the bombings might be considered a form of reading them their rights,

Bump for the Tuesday night crowd.

Thanks for posting that.

EskimoJoe said:

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It's not waterboarding if you use diesel.

I have no love lost for enemy combatants, conspirators, or enablers.

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Duh thats called diesel boarding, we switched to water to help with climate change.