When terrorists attacked the United States on Septembewr 11, 2001, the U.S. intelligence community was woefully unprepared for the work that had to come next – rounding up and interrogating as many Al Qaeda leaders and operatives as possible. Jose Rodriguez was director of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service at the time. He tells us why intelligence officials found themselves flat-footed on 9-11 and what the initial steps were to prepare for the eventual questioning of high profile terrorists. Rodriguez explains why the standard FBI questioning was good but did not yield results quickly enough and how the list of acceptable Enhanced Interrogation Techniques was born. Some news reports suggested top Al Qaeda figures like Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were subjected to waterboarding dozens and dozens of times, but Rodriguez tells us how many times the terrorists themselves claimed to have been waterboarded. He also addresses the controversy over the destruction of videotapes of interrogations and insists the move had nothing to with alleged incidents of torture and everything to do with protecting the identity of interrogators who were shown on tape. Media reports of these stories and other classified programs frustrate Rodriguez greatly and he explains why such leaks are so damaging. We also ask Rodriguez what if anything he would have done differently and how he looks back on his colleagues and the decisions he made in the first several years in the War on Terror.
