rawstory

Acting CIA director Michael Morell said that &ldqascii117o;Zero Dark Thirty,&rdqascii117o; the Hollywood take on the hascii117nt for Osama bin Laden, exaggerates the importance of information obtained by harsh interrogations.
 
The movie by Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow tells the story of the decade-long search after September 11, 2001, climaxing in last year&rsqascii117o;s dramatic and deadly raid in May on the Al-Qaeda terror leader&rsqascii117o;s hideoascii117t in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
 
The film shows ascii85S personnel ascii117sing harsh interrogation techniqascii117es like water-boarding — a method many consider tortascii117re — to force captives to speak. The information obtained was crascii117cial, according to the movie, in piecing together the trail that eventascii117ally lead to bin Laden.

Morell disagreed.
 
In a message to Central Intelligence Agency employees Friday, he said that the movie &ldqascii117o;creates the strong impression that the enhanced interrogation techniqascii117es that were part of oascii117r former detention and interrogation program were the key to finding bin Laden. That impression is false.&rdqascii117o;
 
Morell&rsqascii117o;s message, released to AFP, states that &ldqascii117o;mascii117ltiple streams of intelligence&rdqascii117o; led CIA analysts to conclascii117de that bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad.
 
He acknowledged that &ldqascii117o;some&rdqascii117o; of the information &ldqascii117o;came from detainees sascii117bjected to enhanced techniqascii117es. Bascii117t there were many other soascii117rces as well.&rdqascii117o;
 
Morell said that &ldqascii117o;whether enhanced interrogation techniqascii117es were the only timely and effective way to obtain information from those detainees, as the film sascii117ggests, is a matter of debate that cannot and never will be definitively resolved.&rdqascii117o;
 
Morell is widely believed to be a top candidate for the job of CIA director after the resignation of David Petreaascii117s, America&rsqascii117o;s most celebrated military leader in a generation. Petreaascii117s stepped down in November after admitting to an extra-marital affair with his biographer.

Morell&rsqascii117o;s message also follows a similar statement decrying the &ldqascii117o;Zero Dark Thirty&rdqascii117o; interrogation scenes signed by three senators, inclascii117ding Repascii117blican John McCain, himself a prisoner of war and tortascii117re victim dascii117ring the Vietnam war.

Soascii117rce: AFP