By Brian Ross And Richard Esposito

Dec 10, 2007 4:00pm

Coming in From the Cold: CIA Spy Calls Waterboarding Necessary But Torture

A leader of the CIA team that captured the first major al Qaeda figure, Abu Zubaydah, says subjecting him to waterboarding was torture but necessary. 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. Read the Full Story.

User Comments

Damn it ABC! Don’t spin this!! Torture is torture is torture, and WE DON’T TORTURE!! When do the impeachment hearings begin? I will not stand for this!!

Posted by: Angel | December 12, 2007, 10:42 am 10:42 am

Condoning Torture is like condoning Terrorism. Both are Monsters of two differant breads. If you support torture of prisioners and Terrorist’s then you, Also condone it when the favor is returned. America and Americans Shoud be above the concept of violence.

Posted by: AdeebN | December 13, 2007, 2:12 pm 2:12 pm

Condoning Torture is like condoning Terrorism.
&&&
One man’s opinion of torture doesn’t
necessarily make it so.
Proper perspective is EVERYthing.
Guess it would’ve been better if the dozen of attacks that were prevented
would’ve happened, right?
Unbelievable.
Tough times take tough people.

Posted by: Belinda | December 14, 2007, 3:48 am 3:48 am

Torture can also save lives. If a terrorist is tortured and reveals a plot to kill thousands, I feel that is justified. I would rather torture a terrorist, than risk the lives of our soldiers, our citizens, and innocent lives around the world.

Posted by: DC01 | December 14, 2007, 1:38 pm 1:38 pm

I would rather Die from a Terrorist Attack then Let my, Country become a Terrorist It-self. If you let my country go down the path or using torture, We will loose our moral standing. If you condone Torture you also condone the favor being returned. Think twice before taking violent actions. Torture is Terrorisim.

Posted by: AdeebN | December 17, 2007, 1:58 pm 1:58 pm

It makes me sick what our government is capable of. Waterboarding is just what they are admitting to; which makes me wonder what we don’t know about.
The United States government is guilty of terrorism. After all, we are the only country that ever dropped a nuclear bomb on another country. Not to mention over 100,000 Iraqis that have been killed as a result of the Bush Regime (Father and Son make a great killing machine).
Any torture that breaks someone in 35 seconds will surely make someone say anything just to escape the terror of it.
I am disgusted with my country right now. The United States doesn’t have the right to claim any high moral ground after what we have done in this century. We need to look at our policies and make some huge changes.

Posted by: kdmil | December 18, 2007, 1:02 pm 1:02 pm

Some of you who are against protecting our country may cause the downfall of all of us. The US must protect itself. For those who say if we torture then they’ll torture … you have VERY selective hearing and or reading comprehension – they HAVE tortured anyone and everyone they choose for hundreds of years and it won’t stop just because we stop using a waterboard! Wake up!

Posted by: Voice | December 27, 2007, 12:42 pm 12:42 pm

Leave a Reply

Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.