Contrasting claims of effectiveness of torture of al-Qaida detainees from Senate, CIA

The Senate Intelligence Committee's report on how the CIA interrogated al-Qaida detainees provides eight "primary" examples in which the agency said it obtained good intelligence as a result of what it called "enhanced interrogation techniques," and the Senate panel's conclusions that the information was available elsewhere and without resorting to brutal questioning.

A look at those examples of the CIA's claims and the Senate's counterclaims, according to the Senate report:

JOSE PADILLA

THE CIA SAID Padilla, a U.S. citizen, was implicated in the so-called Dirty Bomb/Tall Buildings plotting. Terror leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed tasked Padilla in 2002 with conducting an operation using natural gas to blow up tall buildings in the United States. Over the next few years, the CIA cited the capture of Padilla before he could pull off such a plot as a prime example of how "key intelligence collected from (high value detainee) interrogations after applying interrogation techniques" had "enabled CIA to disrupt terrorist plots" and "capture additional terrorists." It also said the information was otherwise unavailable and saved lives.

THE SENATE REPORT SAYS the CIA first received reporting on the threat posed by Padilla from a foreign government. Eight days later, al-Qaida operative Abu Zubaydah gave the FBI information on the plot without names, four months before the CIA began using its harsh interrogation techniques on Zubaydah, and after the intelligence community had concluded that Padilla's plots were infeasible.

THE KARACHI PLOTS

THE CIA SAID in November 2007 talking points to the CIA director that it disrupted a plan to conduct attacks against the U.S. consulate and other U.S. interests in Pakistan "after applying the waterboard along with other interrogation techniques." It said the plot was uncovered during the initial interrogations of Khallad Bin Attash and Ammar al-Baluchi and later confirmed by Mohammed. A CIA briefing prepared for Vice President Dick Cheney in March 2005 under the heading "Interrogation Results" also said "use of DOJ-authorized enhanced interrogation techniques ... has enabled us to disrupt terrorist plots, capture additional terrorists (including) the Karachi Plot." In its written response to the Senate's report on Tuesday, the CIA said it should have said it "revealed ongoing attack plotting against the U.S. official presence in Karachi that prompted the consulate to take further steps to protect its officers."

IYMAN FARIS

THE CIA SAID the brutal interrogation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed identified an Ohio truck driver, Iyman Faris, who later pleaded guilty to terrorism charges. A 2009 report to Congress by then-CIA Director Leon Panetta described Faris as one of the "key captures" resulting from the CIA interrogation program. The CIA has since clarified that, "In a few cases, we incorrectly stated or implied that (Mohammed's) information led to the investigation of Faris, but we should have stated that his reporting informed and focused the investigation."

THE SENATE REPORT SAYS Faris, a Pakistani who moved to the U.S. in 1994 and became a citizen in 1999, had already been on the FBI's radar screen even before the 9/11 attacks. He resurfaced after Pakistani authorities arrested Majid Khan during a visit there, when someone close to Khan called Faris in Ohio and informed him about Khan's arrest. The National Security Agency monitored the call. Khan described Faris as a close associate of Khan's uncle, Maqsood Khan, a known senior al-Qaida operative. Days later, during a separate interrogation with Mohammed, Mohammed recognized photos of Faris and Majid Khan and said he had asked Faris to find equipment to loosen the nuts and bolts of suspension bridges in the United States. Faris told him he wasn't able to find the tools.

SAJID BADAT

THE CIA SAID waterboarding helped it confirm that Sajid Badat, a British citizen, was the terrorist assigned to carry out the shoe-bombing attack against a commercial flight from Paris to Miami with Richard Reid in December 2001.

MOHAMMED, HAMBALI and THE KARACHI "CELL" (THE AL-GHURABA GROUP)

THE CIA SAID interrogations of two brothers led to the discovery in 2003 of a joint effort by al-Qaida and Jemaah Islamiyah, a terror group in Southeast Asia, to fly hijacked planes into the tallest buildings on America's West Coast. For years, the CIA cited the "discovery" and "thwarting" of this "second wave" terror plot as evidence of the effectiveness of its enhanced interrogation techniques.

THE SENATE REPORT SAYS a review of CIA records shows that one of the brothers, in the custody of a foreign government, didn't identify a cell of operatives sent to Karachi for an operation, as the agency claimed. Instead, he identified a group of Malaysian and Indonesian students in Karachi who knew he was a member of Jemaah Islamiyah. CIA officers on site cited other intelligence indicating Mohammed planned to use Malaysians in a "next wave of attacks" and linked the brother's answer to that information. When the second brother was given enhanced interrogation and confronted with questions about the supposed terror "cell," he said Mohammed asked for as many pilots as possible. Months later, he told a debriefer he made it up to "reduce pressure on himself" by giving an account consistent with what questioners wanted to hear. The CIA assessed his admission of a fabrication as credible. The detainee then consistently described the al-Ghuraba organization as a development camp for future terror operatives and leaders, not a cell or terror operation beyond Southeast Asia. These descriptions corroborated other intelligence reporting, which indicated that the group wasn't tasked with any aspect of "second wave" terror plotting.

UK URBAN TARGETS PLOT

THE CIA SAID enhanced interrogations helped capture Dhiren Barot, also known as Issa al-Hindi, in 2004 and thwart a series of terrorist attacks in Britain. It said Mohammed first provided reporting on a U.K.-based "Issa." In a document prepared for the president, it highlighted the particular effectiveness of waterboarding in leading to the disruption of the cell.

HEATHROW AIRPORT PLOT

THE CIA SAID after it captured Mohammed in 2003, it learned that Mohammed wanted to target the U.K. by hijacking multiple airplanes leaving from Heathrow, then turn them around and crash them into the airport. This would have killed thousands of people, the CIA said. The agency said that after repeated use of enhanced interrogation in 2003, Mohammed stopped lying and admitted that a picture of a beam in his notebook was a target drawn for a fellow al-Qaida operative. Mohammed wanted planes to target the tallest building at the time in Canary Wharf, London's business district. He identified two potential operatives. In its June response to the Senate report, the CIA said that it was Mohammed's arrest that "most disrupted" the Heathrow plot. "At a minimum the lawful use of EIT's (enhanced interrogation techniques) on Mohammed provided us with critical information that alerted us to these threats," the CIA told its inspector general in 2004.

THE SENATE REPORT SAYS the Heathrow Airport and Canary Wharf plot had not been fully hatched beyond initial planning stages when Mohammed and others were detained. The CIA was aware of the plot before any information was gleaned from the detainees. In October 2002, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who, at the time, had not been subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques, identified two potential Heathrow operatives who had been sent to the U.K. by Mohammed. The CIA knew no pilots had been selected and the plot was not imminent. The CIA also said that intelligence acquired after enhanced interrogations allowed the CIA to conclude this plot had been disrupted.

HAMBALI

THE CIA SAID enhanced interrogation techniques used on Mohammed led to the "first" information about a money transfer that led to the capture of Hambali, also known as Riduan bin Isomuddin. Hambali was a member of Jemaah Islamiyah, which had ties to al-Qaida. Hambali was implicated in the October 2002 Bali bombings. Mohammed was captured on March 1, 2003, and he was interrogated with enhanced techniques starting on March 6, 2003. The CIA said Mohammed told them about a Baltimore, Maryland, man's role in sending $50,000 to Hambali. That man, Majid Khan, admitted that he gave the money to someone named Zubair after the CIA confronted Khan with Mohammed's admission and details about a January 2003 intercepted email. This led to the CIA's capture of Zubair in June 2003. Zubair's capture led the CIA to an operative named Lilie, who was giving Hambali forged passports. Lilie identified where Hambali was hiding in Thailand, and Hambali was arrested August 11, 2003.