ABC News Outs "Architects" of CIA Interrogation Program

This will do wonders for their personal safety, I'm sure.

"According to current and former government officials, the CIA's secret waterboarding program was designed and assured to be safe by two well-paid psychologists now working out of an unmarked office building in Spokane, Washington.

Bruce Jessen and Jim Mitchell, former military officers, together founded Mitchell Jessen and Associates.

Both men declined to speak to ABC News citing non-disclosure agreements with the CIA. But sources say Jessen and Mitchell together designed and implemented the CIA's interrogation program."

I'd like to know who these "sources" are that say two men designed an interrogation plan for an entire government agency. You can't order a box of pens for a government office with less than five people.

The abc contributors, Brian Ross, Matthew Cole, and Joseph Rhee, may also want to pause for a second and get their story straight: "...and a new focus on two private contractors who were apparently directing the brutal sessions that President Obama calls torture...Former U.S. officials say the two men were essentially the architects..."

Well, were they directing the interrogations, or were they kind of-sort of the ones who designed the program?

"Both Mitchell and Jessen were previously involved in the U.S. military program to train pilots how to survive behind enemy lines and resist brutal tactics if captured." Okay, now watch this next part: "But it turns out neither Mitchell nor Jessen had any experience in conducting actual interrogations before the CIA hired them.

'They went to two individuals who had no interrogation experience,' said Col. Kleinman. 'They are not interrogators.'"

If Mitchell and Jessen were teaching pilots how to resist harsh interrogations, that would indicate they have some knowledge of interrogation practices, and should also be a tip-off that since they know what can break a person, they will know what to implement themselves.

Then you have the politicians weighing in. "The use of these tactics tends to increase resistance on the part of the detainee to cooperating with us. So they have the exact opposite effect of what you want," said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich).

So I guess that's why they decided to talk, huh?

The writers of the abc news article also haven't caught up with current information, apparently: "The new memos also show waterboarding was used 'with far greater frequency than initially indicated' to even those in the CIA.

Abu Zubaydah was water boarded at least 83 times and Khalid Sheikh Mohamed at least 183 times."

Take a gander at this blog, two posts down. What do you see?

My whole point is not to judge whether Mitchell and Jessen are innocent or guilty, right or wrong; it is to put the brakes on the fervent uproar coming from the left, who want to do anything and everything they can to anyone who had anything to do with George W. Bush's policies, foreign or domestic. They feel wronged, and now they want blood. So much for the bipartisan spirit they all campaigned on.