Hersh's primary sources are "several past and present American intelligence officials," notably "a senior C.I.A. official" and "a former high-level intelligence official." It's hard not to see this article, true as it may be, as CIA revenge against the high-handed Rumsfeld Pentagon.
Could Thursday's revelations (in the NYT) about the CIA's tortures at "secret C.I.A. detention centers scattered around the world" (Hersh's phrase) be based on a Pentagon leak, a pre-emptive strike against the CIA's version in Hersh's article? Competitive leaking between the Pentagon and Langley may allow the rest of us to see something of what they're actually doing in our name.
Hersh concludes correctly (quoting the head of HRW) that "the military has systematically used third-degree techniques around the world on detainees." But his own summary is, "Rumsfeld's decision embittered the American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of elite combat units, and hurt America's prospects in the war on terror" -- which could be interpreted as another "call for unleashing the CIA on Osama bin Laden and his Al Qeada accomplices." --CGE
On Sat, 15 May 2004 snitilicious at tampabay.rr.com wrote:
> Hersh has more on the story.... Of course, he's a CIA operative so
> it's propaganda. :)
>
> THE GRAY ZONE
> by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
>
> How a secret Pentagon program came to Abu Ghraib.
> Issue of 2004-05-24
> Posted 2004-05-15
>
> The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal
> inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year
> by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret
> operation, which had been focused on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the
> interrogation of prisoners in Iraq...