Bin Laden: The Myth of the Success of Torture

When Barack Obama should have taken legal action against those officials who used torture on “enemy combatants,” or against those who concocted legal justification for using it, he preferred “to look forward, not back.” Too bad. This would probably prevent this barbaric practice, in violation of all the rules of war and the Geneva Convention regarding prisoners of war, from happening again one day.

But over these last few days, the most intolerable thing was the assertion by conservatives that torture had enabled bin Laden to be caught. This is a lie, pure and simple, as ridiculous as the people who offer it up.

Louder and louder, since bin Laden’s death was announced, we hear that torturing Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the lieutenant of the head of al-Qaida, had enabled the name of bin Laden’s outside courier to be obtained. It was this courier whom CIA agents then followed over long months in order to reach the terrorist.

Yet there is nothing more absurd or false. Torture had nothing to do with the success of the operation. On the contrary, it’s practically the opposite.

First of all, it would be so laughable if it weren’t so depressing: The Republicans tried to gain possession of this victory by putting torture on a pedestal. They have nothing else to seize upon to say that, thanks in part to them, Barack Obama scored a big win. It’s pathetic.

And they would then repeat it thousands of time, like [Bill] O’Reilly on Fox or Rush Limbaugh. But they ignored the truth: Torture produces nothing.

The New York Times confirms that the name of the courier was not given by Khalid Sheik Mohammed during torture sessions but rather during traditional sessions of interrogation that took place months later. So the al-Qaida official revealed nothing under the torture of water-boarding. He preferred to give up a name under more humane conditions. What’s more, the CIA reveals that torture has often produced lies. In 2007, a bin Laden lieutenant revealed that there might be a messenger, but four more years of waiting was necessary before his name was provided.

In short, lowering oneself to bin Laden’s level was not how the Americans found the terrorist’s trail. A trail was finally revealed by simply increasing the number of agents on the ground last summer. It was traditional research work that led the military to the rebels. This truth is no doubt hard to swallow for people who make lies their favorite lingo.