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<a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/brauchli12222006.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.counterpunch.org/brauchli12222006.html<br><br>
</a></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4><b>December 22,
2006<br><br>
</font><h1><font size=5><b>When the Secret is the Question<br><br>
<br>
</i></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5 color="#990000">
Secret Prisons, Top Secret
Interrogations</b></font></h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5>
By CHRISTOPHER BRAUCHLI<br><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=6 color="#990000">I</font>
<font face="Verdana" size=2>t's a tremendous responsibility that has been
thrust on those who are imprisoned by George Bush. They have, albeit it
unwittingly, become our allies in the war on terror. They remain
incarcerated indefinitely thus protecting the rest of us (who have not
yet been incarcerated) from the likes of them (even if they are not
terrorists) and while incarcerated, pose no threat to those of us who
remain free They have now been told that while incarcerated Mr. Bush was
willing to entrust to them information that has been designated TOP
SECRET. We would not have learned this important piece of information but
for Majid Khan.<br><br>
Mr. Khan is a Pakistani who recently moved from what was a non-existent
secret prison run by the C.I.A. in a far-off country to the Guantánamo
Detention camp in Cuba. Mr. Khan now has a lawyer. The government doesn't
want Mr. Khan to tell his lawyer, what kinds of interrogation methods
were being used on him (and therefore, shared with him) while he was in
the secret prison. That is because conditions at Guantánamo are only
adequate for handling information classified as secret. Kathleen
Blomquist, a Justice Department Spokeswoman explains:<br><br>
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<dd>"information regarding the former C.I.A. detainees [like Mr.
Khan] was classified as top secret. She said the information he shares
with his counsel should "be appropriately tailored to accommodate a
higher security level."<br><br>
</dl>Why that should be is something of a mystery. Readers will recall
that in the statement accompanying legislation George Bush sent Congress
that authorized military tribunals for terror suspects and set rules to
protect U.S. military personnel from facing prosecution for war crimes,
he said, although not in these words, that the United States uses
"alternative" interrogation methods that help the people being
questioned remember things they might otherwise forget. Those procedures
"were tough, and they were safe and lawful and
necessary."<br><br>
Ms. Blomquist's comments tell us that although the prisoners thought they
were being tortured (Mr. Bush's assurances to the contrary
notwithstanding) they were at the same time being given TOP SECRET
INFORMATION. (Anyone wanting to get an idea of the kind of top-secret
information Mr. Khan has can Google Mamdouh Habib and find the torture
affidavit that was released by the Federal District Court in Washington
on January 5, 2005. It describes the top-secret information (such as
standing on tiptoes in water up to his chin for hours) that was entrusted
to Mr. Habib while in prison. Mr. Khan's experience may well have been no
different from that. An uninformed reader of the affidavit might consider
the techniques torture but for the fact that Mr. Bush doesn't do
torture.)<br><br>
In November the Central Intelligence Agency told a federal district court
in Washington D.C. that al Qaeda suspects should not be permitted to
describe publicly the "alternative interrogation methods" the
CIA used on them while holding them in the secret prisons. The D.I.A.
told the court that if Mr. Khan told just any person what the procedures
were, it would cause "extremely grave damage to the national
security." Marilyn A. Dorn, an official at the National Clandestine
Service that is part of the C.I.A. told the court that "If specific
alternative techniques were disclosed, it would permit terrorist
organizations to adapt their training to counter the tactics that C.I.A.
can employ in interrogations."<br><br>
It seems safe to say that if the prisoners knew when being interrogated
that they were being entrusted with "top secret" information
they would feel quite differently about the process. They would take
pride in having been permitted to participate in this very important
process. They would not be any the less proud knowing that the only
reason the C.I.A. shares this top secret information with them is that it
hopes that in the process of sharing the information those being
questioned will feel compelled to furnish additional information to their
interrogators.<br><br>
So long as Mr. Khan remains in prison the government can count on him to
keep the secret he and the C.I.A. enjoy sharing. The obvious question is
if Mr. Khan gets out of prison can the government count on him to keep
his secret? Thanks to Mr. Bush's foresight in having Congress give him
broad new powers, if it looks like Mr. Khan might get out of prison
either before or after a trial, Mr. Bush can designate him an enemy
combatant and keep him in prison forever. That may seem harsh, but if it
is the only way the secret can be kept, then it is in everyone's best
interest that Mr. Khan remain in jail the rest of his life. That way the
secret will be preserved and we will all be safer-even Mr. Khan. He,
however, will have to enjoy his safety in a jail cell. <br><br>
Christopher Brauchli </b>is a lawyer in Boulder, Colorado. He can be
reached at:
<a href="mailto:Brauchli.56@post.harvard.edu">
Brauchli.56@post.harvard.edu. </a>Visit his website:
<a href="http://hraos.com/">http://hraos.com/</a><br><br>
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