interrogation, Abu Zubaydah, Soufan, & Mitchell

But Mitchell, says the former operative, "had no experience whatsoever in Islamic extremism and ideology of al Qaeda." According to the former government official, Mitchell "never interrogated a person in his entire life and he came up with some crazy theories that anybody who's a professional in the agency or in the FBIall of us agreed at the time that this guy is a quack."
"It was imposed upon us," says the source. "And not only [at CIA] headquarters, they were getting requests specifically from the White House."

According to an intelligence officer involved in Abu Zubaydah's interrogation, Mitchell had "no idea about intelligence, no idea about interrogations, no idea about interviews."

"Who the hell authorizes these things?" Soufan reportedly asked the chief CIA officer in Thailand, as Mitchell began stripping the prisoner and blasting him with music from the Red Hot Chili Pepppers.


Tactics Bred Resistance
"We're the United States, we don't do this," Soufan is said to have told the CIA officers. According to the former operative, the CIA officer told Soufan, "It's coming from Alberto Gonzales." Gonzales was then White House counsel to President George W. Bush. Later, he would become Attorney General.
Mitchell used a program that he told those present was called "force continuum," an ascending interrogation program that began with forced nudity, followed by loud music and white noise, temperature manipulation and sleep deprivation for up to 48 hours. According to one officer on the scene, Mitchell said the program was a "strategic approach to diminish his ability to resist" the interrogators.

Soufan, will testify that Zubaydah didn't begin resisting until Mitchell began his tactics, according the source familiar with his upcoming testimony. So, Soufan blew the whistle. According to a Department of Justice inspector general report, Soufan told his superiors at FBI headquarters that Mitchell's interrogation was "borderline torture" and told FBI superiors that he wanted to arrest Mitchell for the treatment of Zubaydah.