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Was waterboarding used to acquire information used to kill Bin Laden?

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Liberal Examiner

It seems like every day brings a new piece to the puzzle of exactly how the United States finally caught up to Osama Bin Laden. Yet today we have two conflicting reports from the Obama administration with regard to the issue of water boarding. In an interview with NBC News last night CIA Director Leon Panetta acknowledged that water boarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" aided in the intelligence gathered in the pursuit of Bin Leden. An excerpt from Director Panetta's interview with Brian Williams.

BRIAN WILLIAMS: I'd like to ask you about the sourcing on the intel that ultimately led to this successful attack. Can you confirm that it was-- as a result of water boarding that we learned what we needed to learn to go after Bin Laden?

LEON PANETTA: It-- you know, Brian, in the intelligence business you work from a lot of sources of information and that was true here. We had a multiple source-- a multiple series of-- sources that provided information with regards to the situation. Clearly some of it came from detainees and the interrogation of detainees but we also had information from other sources as well.

From Sigent intelligence, from imagery, from other sources that we had-- assets on the ground. And it was a combination of all of that that ultimately we were able to put together that led us to that compound. So-- it's-- it's a little difficult to say it was due just to one source of information that we got.

BRIAN WILLIAMS: Turned around the other way, are you denying that water boarding was, in part, among the tactics used to extract the intelligence that led to this successful mission?

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LEON PANETTA: No, I think some of the detainees clearly were, you know, they used these enhanced interrogation techniques against some of these detainees. But I'm also saying that, you know, the debate about whether-- whether we would have gotten the same information through other approaches I think is always gonna be an open question.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: So finer point, one final time, enhanced interrogation techniques, which has always been kind of a handy euphemism in these post-9/11 years. That-
 
LEON PANETTA: Right.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: --in-- includes water boarding?
LEON PANETTA: Thats correct.
 
National Security Advisor John Brennan countered Mr. Panetta's claim this morning on MSNBC's "Morning Joe' when he was asked if water boarding had been utilized.
 
"Not to my knowledge. The information that was collected over the course of nine years or so came from many different sources: human sources, technical sources, as well as sources that detainees provided. It was something as a result of the painstaking work that the analysts did.  They pieced it all together that lead us to the compound last year and resulted in the very successful operation Sunday.
 
Rep. Peter King (NY-R) seems pretty certain that Mr. Panetta is in the right, telling WCBS that “Osama bin Laden would not have been captured and killed if it were not for the initial information we got from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed after he was water boarded”
 
Water boarding is defined as an interrogation technique in which water is forced into a detainee's mouth and nose so as to induce the sensation of drowning. The Obama administration moved to prohibit its use in 2009 with the President going so far as to say, "I believe that water boarding is torture and whatever legal rationales were used it was a mistakE.
 
If this is true and water boarding was used to gather the information necessary to take Bin Laden down does it change your opinion of water boarding? Does it change your opinion of President Obama even if the information had been gathered prior to his Presidency? Let us know in the comments section,
Brennan at White House Briefing
Brennan at White House Briefing
Photo credit: 
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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Jason Tabrys is the creator of Painespeak.com, an established freelance journalist and author, he now brings his unique brand of liberalism and punditry to Examiner.com. For comments, questions, complaints, praise, assaults on his patriotism, and accusations of socialism please e-mail Jason at...

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