500 Days

by Kurt Eichenwald

  240–241: Some details of the Rove steel meeting from Christopher Meyer, D.C. Confidential, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005. Also see White House press release, “President Announces Temporary Safeguards for Steel Industry,” March 5, 2002.

  241: Details of Cheney’s trip from the official itinerary.

  241–242: Some details of the Cheney meeting with Blair from the January 18, 2010, testimony of Jonathan Powell, the former chief of staff for Blair, before the Chilcot Inquiry, an investigation by a British committee led by Sir John Chilcot, the former permanent secretary at the Northern Ireland office. Also see the briefing memorandum by Bill Burns to Colin Powell, “Principals’ Committee Meeting on the Vice President’s Trip,” March 25, 2002; and the Campbell diaries.

  242–243: Some details of the Hamdan expedition to Kandahar from the FBI 302 of March 13, 2002, chronicling the trip for file no. 265A-NY-259391 SUB AFG, prepared by Special Agents William W. Vincent and Robert Fuller.

  244–245: Some details of the meeting between Manning and Rice from a David Manning memo to Blair, “Secret—Strictly Personal: Your Trip to the US,” March 14, 2002. Also see Manning’s testimony before the Chilcot Inquiry, November 30, 2009.

  245: Details of the Manning memo from the original document.

  245–246: Some details of the problems at Guantanamo from the Dunlavey statement. Also see Joseph Margulies, Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power, Simon & Schuster, 2006.

  245: Some details of the structure of JTF 170 from United States General Accounting Office, Combating Terrorism: Interagency Framework and Agency Programs to Address the Overseas Threat, GAO-03-165, May 2003.

  246: Details of the military commission rules contained in the black binder from the original document. Also see Office of the Chief Defense Counsel, “Desk Book,” memos beginning on March 21, 2002.

  246: Some details about Rumsfeld’s formation of the council of wise men from a September 17, 2001, memo from Rumsfeld to Steve Cambone, subject line “Experts.”

  247–251: Some details of the capture and initial questioning of Abu Zubaydah from memo of Detainee Assessment, Abu Zubaydah; a January 6, 2008, memo headed “Subject: Recommendations for Continued Detention Under DOD Control (CD) for Guantanamo Detainee, ISN US9YM-000549DO (S)” (Detainee Assessment, Hassan Said); Oversight and Review Division, Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, A Review of the FBI’s Involvement in and Observations of Detainee Interrogations in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq, May 2008 (FBI/OIG Report); “Statement of Noor Uthman Muhammed,” dated February 17, 2011, United States v. Noor Uthman Muhammed, filed with the Military Commissions Trial Judiciary—Guantanamo Bay; a CIA document titled “Psychological Assessment of Zain al-Abidin al-Abideen Muhammad Hassan, a.k.a. Abu Zubaydah,” dated January 31, 2003; Tim McGirk, “Anatomy of a Raid,” Time, April 8, 2002. Also see Kiriakou, The Reluctant Spy; John F. Burns, “In Pakistan’s Interior, a Troubling Victory in Hunt for Al Qaeda,” New York Times, April 9, 2002; Michael Isikoff, “We Could Have Done This the Right Way,” Newsweek, April 25, 2009; Dan Eggen and Walter Pincus, “FBI, CIA Debate Significance of Terror Suspect,” Washington Post, December 18, 2007; David Johnston, “At Secret Interrogations, Dispute Flared over Tactics,” New York Times, September 10, 2006; and Mayer, The Dark Side.

  250: Details of the background of ear identification from A. J. Hoogstrate, “Ear Identification Based on Surveillance Camera’s Images,” Netherlands Forensic Institute, May 31, 2000.

  251: Description of the Chilterns from direct observation.

  251–253: Some details of the meeting at Chequers between Blair and his advisors from the Campbell diaries. Also see the December 4, 2009, testimony of Lieutenant General Sir Anthony Pigott before the Chilcot Inquiry.

  253: Details about U-Tabao Air Base, although not in reference to its role as a location of a secret prison, from Jack Sikora and Larry Westin, Batcats: The United States Air Force 553rd Reconnaissance Wing in Southeast Asia, IUniverse, 2003. Also see Emma Chanlett-Avery, “Thailand: Background and U.S. Relations,” Congressional Research Service, June 21, 2010. While Thailand has denied that any secret prison was located inside its borders, the United States publicly acknowledged that one of the facilities was there in documents filed in 2009 in the case of American Civil Liberties Union v. Department of Defense, 04 Civ. 4151, in Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York. Also see United Nations General Assembly Human Rights Council, “Joint Study on Global Practices in Relation to Secret Detention in the Context of Countering Terrorism,” February 19, 2010, A/HRC/13/42; and U.N. Detention Report and Council of Europe, “Secret Detentions and Illegal Transfers of Detainees Involving Council of Europe Member States: Second Report,” submitted by Dick Marty, June 11, 2007 (Marty Report). The location of the prison was conveyed by an official with connections to the Thai government.

  254: The concept of “shock of capture” is described by Steven M. Kleinman, “KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation Review: Observations of an Interrogator,” Educing Information: Interrogation, Science and Art, National Defense Intelligence College, December 2006. “Dislocation of expectation” is also described by Kleinman, in Educing Information.

  254–255: Some details of the FBI interrogations of Zubaydah from FBI/OIG Report; the May 13, 2009, testimony of Ali Soufan before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in the hearing entitled “What Went Wrong: Torture and the Office of Legal Counsel in the Bush Administration” (the Soufan Senate testimony); David Johnston, “At a Secret Interrogation, Disputes Flared over Tactics,” New York Times, September 10, 2006; Peter Finn and Joby Warrick, “Detainee’s Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots,” Washington Post, March 29, 2009; and Michael Isikoff, “We Could Have Done This the Right Way,” Newsweek, April 25, 2009.

  255–256: Some details of the CIA meetings, including Mitchell’s “fear” comment, from Joby Warrick and Peter Finn, “Internal Rifts on Road to Torment,” Washington Post, July 19, 2009. Also see CIA Interrogation Report.

  256–257: The classified CIA report was written in the summer of 1958 by “Don Compos” (a pseudonym) and entitled “The Interrogation of Suspects Under Arrest.”

  257: Description of Al Jazeera’s bureau from direct observation.

  257–258: Some details of the contact with Fouda and his subsequent decision to travel to Islamabad from his book, Masterminds of Terror, Mainstream Publishing, 2003. The book recounted his experiences in the events leading up to and during his interviews with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and bin al-shibh.

  258–260: Some details of the discovery and movement of Hamdi from transcript, Defense Department Operational Update, April 4, 2002; Brief of Petitioners/Appellees, Yaser Esam Hamdi et al. v. Donald Rumsfeld, no. 027338, filed in the Federal District Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, October 18, 2002; Matthew Dolan, “U.S.-Born Taliban Held in Norfolk,” Virginia-Pilot, April 6, 2002; and Jennifer Elsea, “The Supreme Court and Detainees in the War on Terrorism: Summary and Analysis,” CRS Report for Congress, July 12, 2004.

  260–262, 263–265: Some details of the Bush-Blair summit in Crawford from British government’s FCO diplomatic telex, 101727Z, April 2002; the January 29, 2010, testimony of Blair before the Chilcot Inquiry, as well as the November 30, 2009, testimony of David Manning and the January 12, 2010, testimony of Alastair Campbell before the same body. Also see the Campbell diaries; and George Bush, Decision Points, Crown, 2010.

  260: Information about “Operation Defensive Shield” from “Report of the Secretary-General Prepared Pursuant to General Assembly Resolution ES-10/10,” Tenth Emergency Special Session of the United Nations, agenda item 5, July 30, 2002.

  261, 263: The weather in Crawford—and the ongoing dry spell—from the National Weather Service Daily Summary, the hourly observations of the station in McGregor, Texas. Also see the transcript of the Bush-Blair news conference of April 6, 2002; and Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart, Scribner, 2010.

  262–263: Some d
etails about Dunham and his response to the Hamdi case from Tim McGlone, “Frank Dunham Didn’t Expect to Be Representing Terrorist Suspects,” Virginian-Pilot, December 2, 2002. The newspaper quotes from Dolan, “U.S.-Born Taliban Held in Norfolk,” Virginian-Pilot, April 6, 2002. Also see Jerry Markon, “Frank W. Dunham Jr.: Defended Terrorism Suspects’ Rights,” Washington Post, November 5, 2006.

  265–266: Some details of Ivins’s swabbing activities from “AR 15-6 Investigation: Anthrax Contamination of Building 1425, USAMRIID,” dated May 15, 2002; the May 10, 2002, sworn statement provided by Ivins to the army on a DA Form 2823; a May 9 statement provided by a lab official listed only as “KS”; another statement from that same day provided by a contract lab technician listed only as “KA”; a May 6, 2002, e-mail written by Lieutenant Colonel David Hoover from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; an FBI 302 of a March 31, 2005, interview with Ivins for file no. 279A-WF-222936-BEI53; another 302 for Ivins interviews of April 24, 2002, and April 25, 2002; an FBI Electronic Communication from the Washington Field Office Amerithrax-3 Team to Inspection headed “Amerithrax; Major Case 184,” dated May 24, 2005, for case no. 279A-WF-222936-USAMRIID; and the Amerithrax report. Other details of procedures from USAMRIID Regulation 385-69, “Biosafety Level Four Containment Area Safety Survey,” March 1, 1995.

  266: Details of the infections at USAMIIRD from Major General Lester Martinez, “MEMORANDUM FOR Commander, USAMRIID; “ May 16, 2002; DA Form 2823, Sworn Statement of Ivins, Bruce,’ May 6, 2002; DA Form 2823, Sworn Statement of undisclosed witness, May 10, 2002; Sworn Statement of undisclosed witness, May 9, 2002; Sworn Statement of undisclosed witness, May 10, 2002 (Number 2); Lt. Col. William D. Palmer, Findings, AR 15-16 Investigation, May 15, 2002.; David Hoover, “Summary of Genotype Positive Culture, Dates and Locations,” May 9, 2002; Unnamed author, Bacteriology division, USAMIIRD, “Memorandum for Record,” April 19, 2002; “Memorandum for Record, Subject: Area Surveys of USAMRIID for B. anthracis Conducted in Bacteriology Division 15-17 Apr 02,’’ April 19, 2002. Also see Amerithrax Report.

  266–267: Details of Dunham’s letter and the military’s response from a declassified e-mail, with sender and recipient removed, with the subject line “Weekly Update on the Care of Amcit Detainee,” sent April 20, 2002, at 12:31 P.M. Also see Tim McGlone, “Defender Wants Meeting with Locally Held Taliban,” Virginian-Pilot, April 27, 2002.

  Chapter 9

  267–269: Some details of Fouda’s encounter from Fouda, Masterminds of Terror.

  269–271: Quotes from the April 22, 2002, hearing for Moussaoui from that day’s transcript in United States v. Moussaoui. Some other details from Philip Shenon, “Terror Suspect Says He Wants U.S. Destroyed,” New York Times, April 23, 2002; “The Moussaoui Case,” Online NewsHour, April 22, 2002; and Brooke A. Masters, “Moussaoui Wants to Be Own Lawyer,” Washington Post, April 23, 2002. Also see “Transcript of Arraignment,” United States v. Moussaoui.

  271–277: Some details of Almalki’s experiences in Syria from the Iacobucci Report, the O’Connor Report, the Toope Report, and Pither, Dark Days. Also see “Abdullah Almalki: Chronology,” a document created by Almalki and his lawyer, Paul Copeland; and Clifford Krauss, “Evidence Grows That Canada Aided in Having Terrorism Suspects Interrogated in Syria,” New York Times, September 17, 2005. Also see State Department August 4 telex.

  277–280: Some details of the continued FBI interrogations of Zubaydah, and the troubles with the CIA, from FBI/OIG Report; the Soufan Senate testimony; Steven G. Bradbury, “Memorandum for John Rizzo, Acting General Counsel for the Central Intelligence Agency: Re: Application of 18 U.S.C. §§2340–2340A to the Combined Use of Certain Techniques in the Interrogation of High Value al Qaeda Detainees,” May 10, 2005; CIA Office of the Inspector General, “Memorandum for the Record,” July 17, 2003 (CIA/OIG Memorandum for the Record); “Background Paper on CIA’s Combined Use of Interrogation Techniques,” official, undated CIA document (CIA Interrogation Background Paper); International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC Report on the Treatment of Fourteen “High Value Detainees in CIA Custody,” February 2007 (ICRC Report); David Johnston, “At a Secret Interrogation, Disputes Flared over Tactics,” New York Times, September 10, 2006; Peter Finn and Joby Warrick, “Detainee’s Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots,” Washington Post, March 29, 2009; and Michael Isikoff, “We Could Have Done This the Right Way,” Newsweek, April 25, 2009. Also see CIA/OIG Report; and the CIA Medical Guidelines.

  279, 284: Some details of the confrontation between Soufan, Mitchell, and the CIA interrogators from the FBI/OIG Report; the Soufan Senate testimony; Isikoff, April 25, 2009. Also see “Amended Petition for Relief Under the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, and, in the Alternative, for Writ of Habeas Corpus,” Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn v. Robert M. Gates, filed in Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, case no. 07-1520.

  280: The threat against Zubaydah’s mother was disclosed in Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility Report, “Investigation into the Office of Legal Counsel’s Memoranda Concerning Issues Relating to the Central Intelligence Agency’s Use of ‘Enhanced Interrogation Techniques’ on Suspected Terrorists,” July 29, 2009 (the OLC Report).

  280–281: The timing of the initial days of the CIA interrogation program is particularly difficult to specify, primarily because so many of the records contradict each other.

  A narrative of the events released on April 22, 2009, by Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (Rockefeller narrative) states that the CIA proposed the use of waterboarding at a meeting in mid-May 2002. The same document states that the CIA began discussions about the CIA interrogation plan in April. According to the FBI’S OIG report and Ali Soufan’s congressional testimony, the agent witnessed the preparation for the use of cramped confinement on Zubaydah. Soon afterward, in late May, he left the prison where Zubaydah was held.

  However, according to the July 29, 2009, report by the Office of Professional Responsibility for the Justice Department involving the Office of Legal Counsel’s memo regarding aggressive interrogation, other records suggest that the first contact between the CIA and the DOJ was April 11, 2002, and that waterboarding was proposed at that point.

  These, then, are the contradictions: CIA records says that the waterboarding issue was raised in mid-May; DOJ e-mails indicate it was raised in mid-April; the DOJ records also show that the oral approval for the techniques was not provided until July; however, the tactics were being used by CIA officers in mid-May, and one of the interrogators told Soufan they had been approved by Gonzales. Recollections of those involved are also contradictory.

  I have placed events in the order that records seem to suggest they occurred, but I am not dating any of them. All of them occurred within a five-week period, however.

  Some details of the application of the tactics from an undated, classified CIA document labeled “Chronology: Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Activities.” Also see undated file folder, National Security Council Information, containing the undated memo “Proposed Enhanced Interrogation Techniques.”

  282–283: Some information about the meeting in the Situation Room from a September 12, 2008, document headed “Responses of Condoleezza Rice,” submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

  284–285: Some details of the use of boxes for interrogation—and the decision to abandon them—from the CIA/OIG Report; Steven G. Bradbury, “Memorandum for John Rizzo, Acting General Counsel for the Central Intelligence Agency; Bradbury memo for Rizzo, “Re: Application of United States Obligations Under Article 16 of the Convention Against Torture to Certain Techniques That May Be Used in the Interrogation of High Value al Qaeda Detainees,” May 30, 2005.

  285–291, 293–294: Some details of the detention, interrogation, and arrest of Padilla from FBI 302 of the May 8, 2002, interview of José Padilla for case no. 265A-NY-259391, by Special Agents Russell Fincher and Craig Donnachie; the July 11, 2007, testimony of Fincher in United States v. Hassoun e
t al., 04-60001-CR-Cooke, in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida; “Report and Recommendation” of Magistrate Judge Stephen T. Brown, dated September 5, 2006; “Jose Padilla’s Motion to Suppress Physical Evidence and Issue Writs Ad Testificandum,” filed in the same case in May, 2006; Complaint, Jose Padilla v. John Yoo, CV-08-0035, filed January 4, 2008, in Federal District Court for the Northern District of California; and Donna R. Newman, “The Jose Padilla Story,” New York Law Review, 48:39 (2003). Also see James Risen and Philip Shenon, “U.S. Says It Halted Qaeda Plot to Use Radioactive Bomb,” New York Times, June 11, 2002; Transcript, State Department Regular News Briefing, June 11, 2002; “Remarks of Alberto R. Gonzales, Counsel to the President,” American Bar Association, February 24, 2004; and “Declaration of Michael H. Mobbs, Special Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy,” August 27, 2002.

  292: Description of the courthouse from personal observation.

  293: Some details of the video teleconference from the FBI/OIG Report and the Armed Services Report.

  Chapter 10

  299: Details of the hearings before Magistrate Miller and his rulings from Tim McGlone, “U.S. Must Explain Why Man Is Being Held in Brig,” Virginian-Pilot, May 15, 2002; and docket sheet, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Norfolk) for civil case no. 2:02-cv-00439, Hamdi et al. v. Rumsfeld et al.

  299–300: Some details of the analysis, preparation, and writing of the OLC memos on the CIA interrogation techniques from the OLC Report; the Rockefeller narrative; Jay S. Bybee, “Memorandum for John Rizzo, Acting General Counsel for the Central Intelligence Agency: Interrogation of al Qaeda Operative,” August 1, 2002; Steven G. Bradbury, “Memorandum for John Rizzo, Acting General Counsel for the Central Intelligence Agency: Re: Application of 18 U.S.C. §§2340-2340A to the Combined Use of Certain Techniques in the Interrogation of High Value al Qaeda Detainees,” May 10, 2005; an undated document in the White House Counsel’s Office headed “Summary of Advice on Interrogations: Advice to the Counsel for the President”; undated file folder, National Security Council Information, containing the undated memo “Proposed Enhanced Interrogation Techniques”; April 28, 2003, document with a fax cover sheet, but which was not sent by fax, from Yoo to Scott W. Muller, Office of the General Counsel with the CIA, “Legal Principles Applicable to CIA Detention and Interrogation of Captured Al Qa’ida Personnel.” Also see Captain Nikiforos Mathews, “Beyond Interrogations: An Analysis of the Protections under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 of Technical Classified Sources, Methods and Activities Employed in the Global War on Terror,” Military Law Review 192 (Summer, 2007).