AP Exclusive: Terrorist tapes found under CIA desk

AP Exclusive: Terrorist tapes found under CIA desk

(08-17) 07:26 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) -- The CIA has tapes of 9/11 plotter Ramzi Binalshibh being interrogated in a secret overseas prison. Discovered under a desk, the recordings could provide an unparalleled look at how foreign governments aided the U.S. in holding and questioning suspected terrorists. The two videotapes and one audiotape are believed to be the only remaining recordings made within the clandestine prison system. The tapes depict Binalshibh's interrogation sessions at a Moroccan-run facility the CIA used near Rabat in 2002, several current and former U.S. officials told The Associated Press. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the recordings remain a closely guarded secret. When the CIA destroyed its cache of 92 videos of two other al-Qaida operatives, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Nashiri, being waterboarded in 2005, officials believed they had wiped away all of the agency's interrogation footage. But in 2007, a staffer discovered a box tucked under a desk in the CIA's Counterterrorism Center and pulled out the Binalshibh tapes. A Justice Department prosecutor who is already investigating whether destroying the Zubaydah and al-Nashiri tapes was illegal is now also probing why the Binalshibh tapes were never disclosed. Twice, the government told a federal judge they did not exist.

Very interesting how these tapes that the government twice told Federal judges never existed were discovered. The fact that they were in a box underneath a desk makes it almost appear that someone wanted them to be found.

Binalshibh admitted his role in 9/11 so that isn't an issue of doubt.

It is more about the fact that he was interrogated in a Morrocan prison that is funded by the CIA, but is also "officially" said not to exist.

source

Oh what tangled webs we weave, eh?


[edit on 17/8/2010 by Chamberf=6]

Does anyone even get charged for lying to Federal judges? Maybe not, if the tapes suddenly get "misplaced"...
And why do they get discovered now right after the Wikileaks documents?

[edit on 17/8/2010 by Chamberf=6]

Correction: I didn't mean that they were discovered recently (they were found in 2007).
But why are they getting attention now right after all the leaked documents?
Is it all related somehow?

To me, something smells fishy. Why wouldn't the CIA get rid of these tapes too, even after the "staffer" found them? Apparently, they kept these tapes away from the judge, even after they were allegedly found. I wonder if this is some kind of disinformation scheme.

--airspoon

reply to post by airspoon


Yeah, they held on to them for 3 years after discovery, then NOW they are brought to light?
I agree something more is afoot.

reply to post by Chamberf=6
They could easily be part of a bigger gameplan which would make the news story an aspect of propaganda...a cat's paw.

On the other hand, Court Orders and FOIA requests are only enforceable for files, tapes etc that have been recorded as filed. A box under a desk hasn't been filed and would avoid any searches.

It'd be idealistic to believe that an insider with a moral compass had put the tapes aside in the hope of highlighting CIA misdeeds. Maybe it's more pragmatic than that and simply shows internal politics at play?

Second-guessing the activities and motivations of these guys is a short-cut to painkillers....major headache.

Of course, they could be fake tapes - designed to disprove the allegations against US/UK for torture and abuse of prisoners and illegal interrogation techniques.

I mean, losing real evidence and creating fake videos is what the CIA is paid to do, isn't it?

reply to post by wcitizen

All the tapes which showed waterboarding, etc, were destroyed. Now, as evidence for government involvement in 9/11 increases by the week, concidentally these videos are found which prove that Binalshibhi wasn't tortured!

How very convenient, especially given that Binalshibhi is the ONLY piece of evidence the powers-that-soon-won't-be have to support their fictitious claim that it was Muslim terrorist attack.

j

reply to post by wcitizen


...yeah the 92 tapes that WERE destroyed showed water-boarding and other "torture" / rendition interrogations.
Before the tapes ended up under the desk where they were found, they had to be kept somewhere for years. They had to have been placed under the desk by someone.
The motivation? Since GW was still in office when they were found in 2007, maybe it was meant to be the beginnings of a defense for the administrations interrogation policies, in case more torture charges were made.

I can't believe this thread hasn't recieved more attention.

I wouldn't be surprised if these tapes were only recently made, in an effort to put forward some message. Actually, this scenario is more believable to me, than the one presented, though that's obviously just my opinion.

--airspoon

Originally posted by Chamberf=6
Binalshibh admitted his role in 9/11 so that isn't an issue of doubt.
[edit on 17/8/2010 by Chamberf=6]

Interesting find Chamberf. I am however curious about your statement. What did Ramzi bin al Shibh admit to, if anything. Was this admission (?) Prior to, or after being tortured. With the understanding that Abu Zubaydah, while being tortured fingered bin al Shibh who is ALLEGEDLY a co-plotter of the 9/11 attack.

I am of the belief there is something very wrong with the official murky details of those events.
This discovery of tapes that didn't, then did, then didn't, then did exist. More subterfuge from our goods friends at the CIA.

reply to post by dazbog


I said that based on what I read in the AP article.
I wasn't saying it out of any personal research, interest, or opinions.
I am not trying to be a disinfo agent ffs.

[edit on 17/8/2010 by Chamberf=6]

The "staffer" that found these documents is CIA.

That, or one very patriotic CIA agent (or someone else with access) decided to pretend to destroy these tapes, actually kept them, and then made a drop so that the Washington Post would find them.

I hope it's something similar to the latter.

Why is this just now a big deal? If these tapes were said not to exist to a federal judge who is getting charged with felony perjury?

[edit on 17-8-2010 by sremmos]

reply to post by sremmos


Don't forget these were "found" three (3) years ago.

The fact that their existence being made public NOW is stinking like a rotten fish.

[edit on 17/8/2010 by Chamberf=6]

I can't believe that "skeptic me" thinks that this is maybe linked to the recent Wikileaks information, and nobody else does. After holding on to the tapes for three years once they were "re-found" the timing seems really weird to me.
Maybe I'm having CT overdose.

[edit on 17/8/2010 by Chamberf=6]

I was just gonna post this!!! beaten to the punch well played.There is something very odd about this perhaps the agency is simply trying to get ahead of wikileaks fearing that they might get these vids themselves...