Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs Page #2

WOULD HAVE BEEN TO PUT THEM IN

THE BACK OF THE TRUCK AND SHOO THEM.

WELL, THAT'S NOT A VERY GOOD

IDEA, IS IT?

Narrator:
ARE BRUTAL

INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES EVER

ACCEPTABLE?

THE SENATE REPORT HAS

PUBLICLY REVEALED GRAPHIC NEW

DETAILS.

...AND THE REPORT SAYS

DETAINEES WERE KEPT IN TOTAL

DARKNESS, SHACKLED TO THE WALL

IN 45-DEGREE TEMPERATURES.

WE WERE ASKED TO DO SOME VERY

HARD THINGS.

ARE WE HAPPY WE DID THEM?

OF COURSE NOT.

WOULD WE DO THEM AGAIN?

I WOULD HOPE SO IF WE FOUND

OURSELVES IN THOSE

CIRCUMSTANCES.

I JUST DON'T THINK A COUNTRY

LIKE OURS SHOULD BE CULPABLE OF

CONDUCTING TORTURE.

I JUST THINK IT'S BENEATH OUR

DIGNITY.

I THINK IT'S POOR FOR OUR

REPUTATION AND THE WORLD.

I'M NOT GOING TO EVER ACCEP THE USE OF THE WORD "TORTURE" IN

FRONT OF WHAT HAPPENED HERE.

I'M NOT GOING TO FALL TO THAT.

Narrator:
HAS THE C.I.A.

BECOME A SECRET ARMY, A KILLING

MACHINE?

YOU'RE SITTING THERE IN THE

MIDDLE OF NOWHERE IN NEVADA, AND

YOU'RE LOOKING AT A SCREEN THA IS TELEVISING WHAT LOOKS FOR ALL

THE WORLD LIKE A BIG VIDEO GAME.

AND PUSH A BUTTON AND A PICKUP

TRUCK EXPLODES HALF A WORLD

AWAY.

I MEAN, IF THEY'RE BAD GUYS

AND THEY'RE DOING US HARM,

I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THAT.

NOW THE DARK SIDE.

YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T BE PERFECT.

THERE IS COLLATERAL DAMAGE.

(CRYING)

WE FEED THE JIHADI

RECRUITMENT VIDEO THAT THESE

AMERICANS ARE HEARTLESS KILLERS.

WE MAY HAVE TO USE THESE

KINDS OF WEAPONS, BUT, IN THE

END, LET ME TELL YOU

SOMETHING--IF WE FAIL TO DO THIS

AND GOD FORBID THIS COUNTRY

FACED ANOTHER 9/11, YOU KNOW

WHAT THE FIRST QUESTION WOULD

BE:
WHY THE HELL DID YOU LE THIS HAPPEN?

WHY THE HELL DID YOU LET THIS

HAPPEN?

IF YOU ARE A TERRORISM

ANALYST FOR LONG ENOUGH, YOU

WILL HAVE MANY MOMENTS WHERE YOU

WILL FEEL RESPONSIBLE.

RESPONSIBLE FOR NOT HAVING

STAYED LONG ENOUGH, NOT HAVING

STAYED LATE ENOUGH, NOT HAVING

THOUGHT HARD ENOUGH.

NOT HAVING PLOWED THROUGH ENOUGH

DATA TO CONNECT THOSE PROVERBIAL

DOTS.

AND YOU'LL SEE ON THE OTHER END

OF THAT INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE HUR OR KILLED.

I GAVE BIRTH TO MY FIRST SON IN

WHAT WAS A VERY EMERGENCY

C-SECTION.

HE WAS QUITE EARLY.

I WAS LYING DOWN IN MY HOSPITAL

BED, STILL TRYING TO GET OVER

SOME OF THE PAIN.

MY PHONE RANG, AND I HEARD MY

BOSS SCREAMING ON THE OTHER END,

"YOUR PEOPLE DID THIS, YOUR

PEOPLE DID THIS."

AND I HAD NO IDEA WHAT SHE WAS

TALKING ABOUT, BUT I KNEW SHE

MEANT SOMETHING BAD HAD

HAPPENED.

AND I TURNED ON THE TELEVISION,

AND I SAW, AND I KNEW WHAT SHE

MEANT.

Narrator:
FEBRUARY 26, 1993.

WE HEARD A TREMENDOUS

EXPLOSION.

THE ENTIRE BUILDING.

Narrator:
IN AN UNDERGROUND

GARAGE IN NEW YORK CITY, A VAN

PACKED WITH EXPLOSIVES

DETONATES, KILLING SIX PEOPLE

AND INJURING MORE THAN A

THOUSAND.

IT WOULD BE THE FIRST ATTACK ON

THE WORLD TRADE CENTER.

THE FACT IS, AT THIS HOUR,

POLICE SIMPLY DON'T KNOW WHO DID

THIS OR WHY.

THE BIG MESSAGE THAT COMES

OUT OF THE 1993 TRADE CENTER

BOMBING IS THAT A THRESHOLD HAS

BEEN CROSSED.

THEY'VE HIT US HERE.

BUT YOU KNOW, THINKING BACK ON

IT, I'M NOT SURE THAT MESSAGE

WAS AS POWERFULLY ABSORBED AS WE

CAN SEE IT IN RETROSPECT.

Narrator:
THE TRAIL WOULD

LEAD TO A SHADOWY NETWORK OF

JIHADISTS IN AFGHANISTAN THA THE WORLD WOULD COME TO KNOW AS

AL QAEDA, AND A CHARISMATIC

SAUDI MULTI-MILLIONAIRE.

I HAD LIKENED OSAMA BIN LADEN

AT THE TIME TO-- I KNOW THIS IS

HORRIBLE TO SAY, BUT TO DONALD

TRUMP.

YOU KNOW, HE WAS LIKE THE DONALD

TRUMP OF THE TERRORISM

UNDERWORLD.

HE HAD THE WHEREWITHAL AND A

VISION THAT WAS CLEARLY

CONTROVERSIAL AND DIFFERENT FROM

EVERYBODY ELSE, BUT, YOU KNOW,

THE TENACITY TO FOLLOW IT.

I DEFINITELY DREW A LOT OF

SNICKERS FROM MY... FROM MY

COLLEAGUES WHO THOUGHT I WAS

MAKING A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A

MOLEHILL AND BLOWING HIM OUT OF

PROPORTION.

Narrator:
AUGUST 7, 1998.

SUICIDE TRUCK BOMBERS STRIKE

AMERICAN EMBASSIES IN TANZANIA

AND KENYA, EAST AFRICA.

224 PEOPLE LIE DEAD, TWO OF THEM

C.I.A. OFFICERS.

AFTER THE EAST AFRICA

BOMBINGS, I SAT AT HOME AND

FURIOUSLY DRAFTED A MEMO CALLED

"WE'RE AT WAR."

ENOUGH SWATTING AT FLIES; WE

NEED TO PUT A WORLDWIDE PLAN IN

PLACE WHERE WE CAN STAR DEMONSTRATING THAT WE CAN

PENETRATE THIS ADVERSARY, GE INTO THE SANCTUARY, PENETRATE

HIS MAJOR OPERATIONAL HUBS AND

SET US UP FOR REALLY PROVIDING

POLICYMAKERS WITH HARD

INTELLIGENCE WITH WHICH THEY

COULD MAKE DECISIONS.

Narrator:
COFER BLACK, A

LEGENDARY OPERATIVE, HAD ESCAPED

AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT BY AL

QAEDA WHILE SERVING IN KHARTOUM.

THE FIRST WEEK THAT I WAS IN

THE COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER, NEW

CHIEF COMES IN, AND THEY STICK

YOU IN A CONFERENCE ROOM, AND

PEOPLE START COMING IN AND

BRIEFING YOU ON ALL THEIR AREAS

OF ACTIVITY.

I DON'T SHOCK EASY, BUT I WAS

SHOCKED.

THIS WAS A WAVE OF THREATS

COMING AT THE UNITED STATES.

THERE WAS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND

THAT THE UNITED STATES WAS GOING

TO BE STRUCK AND STRUCK HARD.

LOTS OF AMERICANS WERE GOING TO

DIE.

SANDY BERGER, THE NATIONAL

SECURITY ADVISOR AT THE END OF

THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION,

ASKED US FOR A VERY IMPORTAN PIECE OF PAPER.

WE CALLED IT THE "BLUE SKY

PAPER."

HE SAID, "I WANT YOU TO IMAGINE

THAT YOU HAD ALL THE AUTHORITIES

YOU NEEDED AND ALL THE RESOURCES

YOU NEEDED TO TAKE DOWN AL

QAEDA.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?"

GETTING INTO THE AFGHAN

SANCTUARY, LAUNCHING A

PARAMILITARY OPERATION-- WE KNEW

EXACTLY WHAT TO DO.

WE WERE READY TO DO IT.

THE IMPORTANT PART IS, NO

ACTION WAS TAKEN.

IT WAS NOT ADVANCED.

Narrator:
AS AL QAEDA GROWS

MORE LETHAL, C.I.A. DIRECTOR

GEORGE TENET FACES A TEST THA WILL DEFINE HIS PLACE IN

HISTORY:
CAN THE C.I.A. STOP BIN

LADEN BEFORE HE STRIKES THE

UNITED STATES AGAIN?

ON SEPTEMBER 28, 2000, WE

WERE TESTING DRONES OVER

AFGHANISTAN WHEN WE SAW A VERY

TALL MAN IN WHITE ROBES WHO WE

ASSUMED AT THE TIME WAS BIN

LADEN.

I MEAN, I LOVE THIS.

THIS IS SUCH A WASHINGTON THING.

OUR INSTRUCTIONS WERE TO CAPTURE

HIM, AND THAT'S WHAT WE

ATTEMPTED TO DO.

AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

CAPTURING, I WOULD THINK, AND

THE ALTERNATIVE IS SIGNIFICANT.

AND THE GAP IS LARGE.

KILLING BIN LADEN IN THE TIME

PERIOD WE OPERATED WAS NEVER AN

OPTION BECAUSE THE ATTORNEY

GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES

COULD ONLY BE KILLED IN THEAT HE

CONTEXT OF A CAPTURE OPERATION.

DID YOU TELL THE WHITE HOUSE,

DID YOU TELL JANET RENO, "LOOK,

YOU DON'T GET IT.

WE HAVE TO KILL THIS GUY.

WE HAVE TO TAKE HIM DOWN"?

NO.

I'LL TELL YOU WHY.

I HAVE AN INSTITUTIONAL

RESPONSIBILITY; I PLAY IN A

PROCESS WHERE THE PRESIDENT OF

THE UNITED STATES AND THE

ATTORNEY GENERAL HAVE TO ACCEP RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACTIONS

WE'RE GOING TO TAKE.

Narrator:
BUT THE EAST AFRICA

BOMBINGS IN 1998 HAD CHANGED THE

CALCULUS FOR PRESIDENT BILL

CLINTON.

HE LAUNCHED CRUISE MISSILE

STRIKES IN AN EFFORT TO KILL BIN

LADEN, BUT THEY MISSED.

THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION

SPENT EIGHT YEARS LEARNING TO

APPRECIATE THIS THREAT, AND ONLY

AT THE VERY END DID THEY GET IT.

I, GEORGE WALKER BUSH, DO

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