500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars

by Kurt Eichenwald

  445: Details of the Blix-ElBaradei presentations before the U.N. from a transcript of the event.

  447–449: Some details of the interrogation experience from a partially declassified FBI 302, reflecting a September 7, 2004, interview with an unnamed agent for case file 297-HQ-1327669-A; handwritten notes of an FBI interview with an unidentified witness from an interview conducted on September 2, 2004; a partially declassified e-mail from an unidentified sender to an unidentified recipient, dated July 9, 2004, with subject line “GTMO”; and James, Fixing Hell.

  451–453: Some details of Blair’s meeting with his senior military officers and defense minister from “Record of the Meeting Between the Prime Minister and Chiefs of Staff to Discuss Op Telic: 15 Jan 03,” MA/CIO, “Briefing to Prime Minister by CDS and DCJO (Ops),” January 15, 2003; Matthew Rycroft, letter headed “Iraq: Military Planning,” January 15, 2003; and official record, “Brief to PM: 1715 Wed 15 Jan 03.”

  454–455: Some details of the meeting with Chirac from the Australian Iraq Report; Thomas Koenig and Katie MacMillan, Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University, “The UN Weapons’ Inspector Reports on Iraq in the US-American, British, and German Press,” undated (Loughborough Report); and Blix, Disarming Iraq.

  455: The order to set up the working group, and the details of how it should operate, were communicated by Rumsfeld to Haynes in “Memorandum for the General Counsel of the Department of Defense, Subject: Detainee Interrogations,” dated January 15, 2003.

  Chapter 15

  460–461: Some details of Römer’s role from “George W. Bush et le Code Ezéchiel,” Allez Savoir: Le magazine de l’Université de Lausanne 39 (September 2007).

  460: Information about “Gog and Magog” from Daniel Kretzmann, “Understanding the War of Gog and Magog,” July 29, 2009; Sverre Bøe, Gog and Magog: Ezekiel 38–39 as Pre-text for Revelation 19, 17–21 and 20, 7–10, Mohr Siebeck, 2001; Book of Revelation, 20:1–6; Book of Ezekiel, 38–39; Douglas Berner, The Silence Is Broken! God Hooks Ezekiel’s Gog & Magog, www.Lulu.com (self-published) 2006.

  460: Reagan made his comment about Gog and Magog in 1971, as governor of California. The full quote is:

  Ezekiel tells us that Gog, the nation that will lead all of the other powers of darkness against Israel, will come out of the north. Biblical scholars have been saying for generations that Gog must be Russia. What other powerful nation is to the north of Israel? None. But it didn’t seem to make sense before the Russian revolution, when Russia was a Christian country. Now it does, now that Russia has become Communistic and atheistic, now that Russia has set itself against God. Now it fits the description of Gog perfectly.

  461: Some details of the event at Versailles and the statements by Chirac and Schroeder from Dr. Daniela Schwarzer, “France-Allemange: Si loin, si proche?” Stifftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin, December 2008; Lutz Rüstow et al., “Festschrift zum 50-jährigen Jubiläum des Carolus-Magnus-Kreises 1954–2004,” 2004; Jon Henley, “Europe’s Big Two Unite for Versailles Lovefest: France and Germany Celebrate 40 Years Since Reconciliation Treaty,” Guardian, January 23, 2003; Philip Delves Broughton, “France and Germany Are Friends Reunited: The 40th Anniversary of the Elysee Treaty Is Marked by Bonhomie and Back-slapping,” Independent, January 23, 2003; John Leicester, “France, Germany Counter U.S. War Talk, Call for Peaceful Solution on Iraq,” Associated Press, January 23, 2003. Some behind-the-scenes details of Chirac’s opposition from a telex from the British embassy in France to David Manning headed “France: Iraq; From: Paris,” and dated March 3, 2003; also see a March 13, 2003, letter from Peter Ricketts from Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office to Ambassador Sir John Holmes, headed “France and Iraq.”

  461–462: Bush’s statements from a transcript in Public Papers of the President, George W. Bush 2003, Vol. 1, Government Printing Office.

  462–463: Details of the Rumsfeld press conference from a transcript of the event. Details of the global response from John Hooper and Ian Black, “Anger at Rumsfeld Attack on ‘Old Europe,’ ” Guardian, January 24, 2003; Lorne Cook, “France, Germany Fume over Rumsfeld’s ‘Old Europe’ Remark,” Agence France Presse, January 23, 2003; and Matthew Lee, “US Diplomats Cringe at Rumsfeld’s ‘Old Europe’ Comment,” Agence France Presse, January 23, 2003.

  463: The final version of the Yoo memo, headed “Memorandum for William J. Haynes II, General Counsel of the Department of Defense; Re: Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants Held Outside the United States,” was dated March 14, 2003.

  466: Details of the Blair note from excerpts reviewed by the author.

  467–468: Blair and Frost’s statements from a transcript of BBC Breakfast with Frost, in the program “Prime Minister Prepares for War,” first broadcast on January 26, 2003.

  468: Details of the confidential Goldsmith memo from Goldsmith, “Iraq: Interpretation of Resolution 1441,” January 3, 2003, draft as handed to Blair on January 14, 2003. Blair spoke of his anxiety about the Goldsmith memo, and his decision to keep it secret, in his January 21, 2011, testimony before the Chilcot Inquiry.

  468–469: The statements before the Security Council from Blix and ElBaradei’s prepared statements of January 25, 2003. Also see Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD, “Intelligence on Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction,” December 2003 (Australian WMD Report); CRS WMD Report; and Research Paper 03/22, “Iraq: Developments Since UN Security Council Resolution 1441,” March 13, 2003 (House of Commons Iraq Paper).

  470–472: Some details of the Bush-Blair meeting from contemporaneous notes taken during the discussion. Some details of the staff discussions from the Campbell diaries.

  472–473: Some details about the Bush-Blair press conference from a transcript of the event.

  473–474: Details of the Lovelace and Witsch e-mails from the original documents.

  474–475: Some details about the draft working group report from “Working Group Report, Detainee Interrogations in the Global War on Terrorism: Assessment of Legal, Historical, Policy, and Operational Consideration,” April 4, 2003; also see the same publication, but the earlier draft from March 6, 2003; the Armed Services Report; and the Mora memo. Also see “Memo from Air Force Office of the Judge Advocate General for the SAF/GC, Final Report and Recommendations of the Working Group to Assess the Legal, Policy and Operational Issues Relating to Interrogation of Detainees Held by the Armed Forces in the War on Terror,” February 5, 2003.

  475: Some details about the COBRA meeting from the Campbell diaries.

  476–478: Some details of the Rice-Blix meeting from Blix, Disarming Iraq; Commonwealth of Australia, Information and Research Services for Parliament, “ ‘Disarming’ Iraq Under International Law—February 2003 Update,” Brief no. 16 2002-03 (Australian Iraq Report); the Loughborough Report.

  477: The failure of the American intelligence agencies to share information with Blix from Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, “Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq,” July 7, 2004.

  477–479, 480: Some details of the Abu Omar abduction from a formal statement given by Pironi on April 14, 2006, to the Milan district attorney. Also see “Decree for the Application of Coercive Measures,” filed with the Judge Presiding of Preliminary Investigations in Milan, filed under article 292 c.p.p., no. 10838/05. Also see November 19, 2007, PowerPoint presented to European Parliament by Armando Spataro, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Milan, “The Kidnapping of Nasr Osama Mostafa Hassan Alias Abu Omar.”

  479: Details of the Blix-ElBaradei presentation before the U.N. on February 12 from a transcript of the event. Also see the Australian WMD Report; the CRS WMD Report; and the Loughborough Report. Also see Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, “Statement by the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, to the United Nations Security Council, New York, Friday 14 2003”; and Blix, Disarming Iraq.

  480–481: Some details abou
t the Blair-Blix conversation from Blair’s testimony of January 21, 2011, and Blix’s testimony of July 27, 2010, before the Chilcot Inquiry. Also see “Prime Minister’s Statement of 25 February 2003 to the House of Commons”; the Australian WMD Report; and the CRS WMD Report.

  Chapter 16

  482–484: Some details of the capture and initial interrogation of KSM from “Verbatim Transcript of Combatant Status Review Tribunal, Hearing for ISN 10024,” March 10, 2007 (KSM hearing); Indictment, United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed et al., (S14) 93 CR 180, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan; KSM Charge Sheet; Detainee Assessment of KSM; Nick Fielding and Christina Lamb, “Natural Born Killer,” Sunday Times (London), March 9, 2003; Oliver Burkeman, “How Mobile Phones and an £18m Bribe Trapped 9/11 Mastermind,” Guardian, March 11, 2003; Rohan Gunaratna, “Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,” Playboy, June 1, 2005.

  484–485: The German, French, and Russian statement from an English translation of a copy of the original document.

  485: Some details of the Blair government reaction from the January 21, 2010, testimony of Jack Straw and the January 29, 2010, testimony of Blair before the Chilcot Inquiry. Also see the Campbell diaries.

  485–486: Details of the working group report from the original document.

  486: Some details about the discussion of resignation by Blair from the Campbell diaries.

  486–487: Some details of the flight taking Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to Poland from the Marty Report and the U.N. Detention Report. Some information about his treatment on arrival from undated report, “Background Paper on CIA’s Combined Use of Interrogation Techniques.”

  487: While the Polish government has, at times, denied the existence of a secret prison inside the country, that statement has been proved false. For example, the head of Polish intelligence for 2002–2003, Zbigniew Siemiatkowski, confirmed the landing of CIA flights and the use of secret prisons in Adam Krzykowski, “Politycy Przecza,” Rzeczpospolita, April 15, 2009. Also see Edyta Zemia and Mariusz Kowalewski, “Polski wywiad w sluzbie CIA,” Rzeczpospolita, April 15, 2009; the December 17, 2010, letter from Danuta Przywara, president, Helsinska Fundacja Praw Czlowieka, to Andrzej Seremet from the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw. Also see the application in al-Nashiri v. Poland, filed under Article 34 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Rules 45 and 47 of the Rules of the Court with the Cour Européenne des Droits de l’Homme, May 6, 2011; and Central Intelligence Agency, “Memo to DOJ Command Center—Background Paper on CIA’s Combined Use of Interrogation Techniques,” December 2004 (CIA Rendition Background Paper).

  487–488: Some details of the issues surrounding the Blix-ElBaradei report from the Australian WMD Report and the CRS WMD Report. Also see House of Commons Iraq Paper.

  488: Details of the State Department fact sheet from U.S. Department of State, “Fact Sheet on Unresolved Disarmament Issues,” March 10, 2003; details of other attacks on Blix from Steven R. Weisman, “U.S. Says Blix Played Down Details of Banned Weapons,” New York Times, March 11, 2003; John Donnelly and Elizabeth Neuffer, “U.S. Questions Blix Report; Omitted Examples of Banned Weapons,” Boston Globe, March 11, 2003. Cheney’s statements from a transcript of his March 16, 2003, appearance on Meet the Press. Also see the War College Monograph.

  489: Some details of Goldsmith’s partial—then full—reversal from David Brummell, “Iraq: Legal Basis for the Use of Force—Note of Discussion with Attorney General,” March 13, 2003; Brummell letter to Matthew Rycroft at 10 Downing Street, “Iraq,” March 14, 2003; Goldsmith’s schedule book for March 13, 2003; Goldsmith, “Iraq: Interpretation of Resolution 1441,” February 12, 2003; Simon McDonald, “Note for the Record; Iraq: Meeting with Attorney General,” March 17, 2003; Jack Straw letter to Goldsmith headed “Iraq: Second Resolution,” February 6, 2003; Chilcot Inquiry: Memorandum by the Right Honorable Jack Straw, MP, January 2010; and January 21, 2010, testimony of Straw and January 29, 2010, testimony of Blair before the Chilcot Inquiry.

  489–490: Some details of the annual awards ceremony that honored Ivins from “Western Maryland in Brief,” Associated Press, March 18, 2003; and photographs from the event.

  490–491: Some details of the questioning techniques used on Sheikh Mohammed from CIA/OIG Report; the CIA Medical Guidelines; 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; 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; CIA/OIG Memorandum for the Record; CIA Numbered Report; CIA Interrogation Background Paper; and ICRC Report.

  490–491: Details of Deuce Martinez’s interrogation of and relationship with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were first reported by Scott Shane, “Inside a 9/11 Mastermind’s Interrogation,” New York Times, June 22, 2008.

  491–493: Some details of the information obtained from Sheikh Mohammed from CI/DI Report; partial version, CIA Directorate of Intelligence, “Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: Preeminent Source on al Qaeda,” July 13, 2004; 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”; undated investigative summary for Mohd Farik bin Amin, alias Zubair; undated investigative summary for Riduan Isamuddin, alias Hambali; and “Classified Statement for the Record,” General Michael V. Hayden, given April 17, 2007, before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Also see CIA/OIG Memorandum for the Record.

  493–495: Some details of the Azores meeting from contemporaneous notes of the events. Also see Raymond W. Copson, Congressional Research Service, “Iraq War: Background and Issues Overview,” April 22, 2003; “Report in Connection with Presidential Determination Under Public Law 107–243”; the Campbell diaries; and Bush, Decision Points.

  495: Bush’s conversation with Campbell from the Campbell diaries.

  495: Details of the press conference from a transcript of the event. Also see Bush, Decision Points.

  496–497: Some details of the parliamentary debate from the official transcript headed “Iraq: 18 March 2003: House of Commons Debates.”

  497–500: Some details of the final hours before Bush’s decision to strike Dora Farms from notes of a background briefing provided by a senior White House official, March 20, 2003; Bill Adair, “Last Hours Show Bush’s Resolve,” St. Petersburg Times, March 21, 2003; Rob Hotakainen, “Bush’s Command: ‘Let’s Go,’ ” Star Tribune (Minneapolis), March 21, 2003.

  501: Some details of the minutes before Bush’s speech from a video feed of the event. Bush’s statements from a transcript in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush, 2003, Book 1, Office of the Federal Register, United States National Archives and Records, 2006 (Bush Public Papers, 2003, Book 1).

  Epilogue

  503–504, 508: Some details of the second anniversary ceremony from “Ground Zero Readings,” Associated Press, September 11, 2003; Ruth Padawer, “Dad Missing from Picture for 9/11 Victim’s Son,” Record, June 16, 2002; video summary, NBC News; Michael Powell and Dale Russakoff, “In New York, Roll of Names Is Part of Quiet Remembrance,” Washington Post, September 12, 2003; “9/11 Commemorated at Ground Zero,” Life, September 11, 2003; Andrea Elliott, “One More Chance to Say to Dad, ‘I Love You,’ ” New York Times, September 12, 2003.

  504: Bush’s poll numbers from Richard Benedetto, “Bush’s Approval Rating Plummets,” USA Today, September 12, 2003.

  504–505: Details of the reaction to the report about Blair from Glenn Frankel, “Panel Warned Blair of War Risk,” Washington Post, September 12, 2003. Details of Blair’s troubles and decision to step down from Sebastian Borger, “The End of the Tony Show,” Der Spiegel, May 10, 2
007; and Neal Lawson, “A Decade of Blair Has Left the Labour Party on Its Knees,” Guardian, April 19, 2007.

  505: Statistics regarding Bush’s mention of bin Laden, Saddam, al-Qaeda, Afghanistan, and Iraq from an analysis of Bush Public Papers, 2003, Book 1.

  505: Tenet made his accusation against Cheney in At the Center of the Storm.

  505: Gallup poll on Cheney was conducted January 9–11, 2009.

  505: Powell’s call for the CIA and Pentagon to explain why they had not told him of Curveball’s unreliability from Ed Pilkington, “Colin Powell Demands Answers over Curveball’s WMD Lies,” Guardian, February 16, 2011.

  506: Wolfowitz’s troubles at the World Bank stemming from his relationship with Shaha Ali Riza from Steven R. Weisman, “Wolfowitz Resigns, Ending Long Fight at World Bank,” New York Times, May 18, 2007.

  506: Jack Goldsmith described his hiring and subsequent withdrawal of the Yoo memos in The Terror Presidency.

  506: Background of the OLC Report from the OLC Report.

  507: The quote from Yoo’s interview was cited in the OLC Report.

  507–508: Goldsmith quotes from The Terror Presidency.

  509: Details of Syria’s level of cooperation from the November 9, 2005, testimony of Flynt Leverett, senior analyst with the CIA and senior director of Middle East Affairs at the NSC during the Bush administration, before the Arar Commission.

  510: Quotes of Harper’s letter of apology from the original document.

  510: Graham disclosed Powell’s complaint about having been misled in his May 30, 2005, testimony before the Arar Commission.

  510–511: Details of the release of Almalki and El-Maati from the Iacobucci Report and the O’Connor Report.

  511: The House of Commons vote to offer an apology and compensation to Almalki and El-Maati from “Bungling ‘Terror’ Cases,” Star, June 21, 2009.