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ABC Yawns: Not Interested in Whether Waterboarding Helped Kill bin Laden

By Scott Whitlock | May 04, 2011 | 12:11

A  A
Scott Whitlock's picture

ABC's World News on Tuesday continued to demonstrate the network's lack of interest in whether enhanced interrogation methods such as waterboarding played a part in the killing of Osama bin laden. The Diane Sawyer-anchored program was the only newscast to avoid the topic.

In contrast, Nightly News host Brian Williams interviewed CIA director Leon Panetta, grilling, "Can you confirm that it was as a result of waterboarding that we learned what we needed to learn to go after bin Laden?" He hammered the question three times, adding, "...Are you denying that waterboarding was in part among the tactics used to extract the intelligence that led to this successful mission?"

On the CBS Evening News, anchor Katie Couric made similar points to Panetta: "One of President Obama's first acts was to outlaw enhanced interrogation techniques. Now, some of these were used on detainees who provided information that led to bin Laden's whereabouts. Given that, do you think the use of these techniques should, in fact, be re-evaluated?"

Panetta did not appear on ABC. Not only that, ABC's World News on Tuesday didn't mention waterboarding or enhanced interrogation at all.

Both Evening News and Nightly News obtained scoops from Panetta. He admitted to Williams, "No, I think some of the detainees clearly were, you know- they used these enhanced interrogation techniques against some of these detainees."

Panetta told Couric, "Obviously there was- there was some valuable information that was derived through those kinds of interrogations." On Wednesday, however, both NBC's Today and CBS's Early Show ignored these important nuggets of information their colleagues obtained.

During the Bush administration, journalists indignantly attacked the use of enhanced interrogation. On the May 31, 2005, ABC's Terry Moran, at a press conference with George W. Bush, complained, "Mr. President, recently Amnesty International said you have established, quote, ‘a new gulag of prisons around the world beyond the reach of the law and decency."

On the May 22, 2009 GMA, Chris Cuomo speculated, "Enhanced interrogation. Is that just another word for torture and is that the game America should be in?"

On September 13, 2006, Evening News' Bob Schieffer scolded, "Democracies have no business running secret prisons. That's what our enemies do."

A transcript of the May 03 Nightly News and Evening News exchanges with Panetta can be found below:

Story Continues Below Ad ↓

CBS Evening News
6:34

KATIE COURIC: One of President Obama's first acts was to outlaw enhanced interrogation techniques. Now, some of these were used on detainees who provided information that led to bin Laden's whereabouts. Given that, do you think the use of these techniques should, in fact, be re-evaluated?

LEON PANETTA: No, I really don't. You know, I think what we had here were a lot of streams of intelligence that came together. And I think it's probably going too far to say it all ties to just, you know, one source of information that we received. We were looking at a lot of lines of information, going back a long way.

COURIC: Having said that, some valuable information did, in fact, come from enhanced interrogation techniques.

PANETTA: Obviously there was- there was some valuable information that was derived through those kinds of interrogations. But I guess the question that everybody will always debate is whether or not those approaches had to be used in order to get the same information. And that, frankly, is an open question.
                   
NBC Nightly News
7:06

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 waterboarding that we learned what we needed to learn to go after bin Laden?

LEON PANETTA: 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 this situation. Clearly, some of it came from detainees and the interrogation of detainees. But we also had information from other sources, as well. So it's a little difficult to say it was due just to one source of information that we got.

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

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 going to be an open question.

WILLIAMS: So finer point, one final time: Enhanced interrogation techniques, which has always been kind of a hand a handy euphemism in these post 9/11 years, that includes waterboarding?

PANETTA: That's correct.

About the Author

Scott Whitlock is the senior news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Scott Whitlock on Twitter.
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Stop George Soros

Comments

Panetta desperately tried to

Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 05/04/2011 - 12:24pm.

Panetta desperately tried to dance around the questions.

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Uhm, MSM, you missed the

Submitted by dscott on Wed, 05/04/2011 - 12:26pm.

Uhm, MSM, you missed the memo.

Pelosi thanks Bush!!!! http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/159031-pelosi-thanks-bu...

Shocking, Pelosi does what Obama has forgotten. Props to Pelosi.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.
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Nope, no props here

Submitted by Tomorama on Wed, 05/04/2011 - 12:41pm.

She ONLY did this because of the side by side comments of hers were released yesterday and they further showed how much of a gutless, clueless fraud she is.

She THANKED CLINTON as well and I simply ask, WHY?

He had chance after chance and did bleep.

HIS intel communties thanks to Jamie Gorelick would not allow for info to be passed from one agency to another and that is what caused 9-11.

Again WHY THANK CLINTON?

She is trying to cover herself and grab some spotlight.

IF SHE ONLY THANKED Booooooosh, I would have given her some props.

If you make poverty easy, you will have more of it. Benjamin Franklin
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It Is Always Fun

Submitted by Comrade Jim on Wed, 05/04/2011 - 12:27pm.

To watch the left's fantasy world crash into the real world and burn. Bush and Cheney were right: enhanced interrogation (water boarding) actually worked.

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Protect and serve....................................Obama

Submitted by Tomorama on Wed, 05/04/2011 - 12:36pm.

Always Barack Channel for a reason.

Just them replacing Snuffaluffagus with Christine Armapoorexcuse said enough about how leftist this network has become.

If you make poverty easy, you will have more of it. Benjamin Franklin
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The left refuses to let facts

Submitted by rbosque on Wed, 05/04/2011 - 1:27pm.

The left refuses to let facts interrupt the left-wing fantasy world they live in.

"It may be true that you can't fool all the people all the time, but you can fool enough of them to rule a large country"......Will Durant
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The Narrative is correct ...

Submitted by NL207 on Wed, 05/04/2011 - 1:36pm.

it is the facts that are wrong.

We have actually heard this and its semantic equivalents from the MSM themselves.  Recall Dan Rather and the Bush National Guard forgeries?

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Of course, we all know that bin Laden was

Submitted by WhoIsJohnGalt on Wed, 05/04/2011 - 1:39pm.

 killed in Abbottabad, but what's lees well known is that he spent the last three years shuttling between this compound and another one in Costellofah in Yemen.  It's generally believed that he didn't feel safe in the one in Yemen, allegedly because the staff there was totally incompetent.  They were known to screw up the simplest of tasks, such as walking into open doors, dropping heavy objects on bin Laden's foot, just to name a few.

 

Good thing he left Yemen, I'd say...

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Here's a conspiracy theory

Submitted by balboa on Wed, 05/04/2011 - 6:59pm.

Here's a conspiracy theory for ya: do you think that Panetta had any reason to lie about what techniques were used to get this info?

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Leon the Parrott

Submitted by Motormouth KOS on Thu, 05/05/2011 - 10:03am.

Fundamentally, he's a pretty intellectually honest guy. But he still had to couch his words at the end for fear that how would piss off the Thin-Skinned Narcissist, AKA, Professor Pinhead, AKA Barry Hussein

The Obamination... A crisis leading to a catastrophe..(please donate to MRC)

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Yeah. What he said!

Submitted by NC Cop on Thu, 05/05/2011 - 11:40am.

Yeah. What he said!

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Cliff notes for Marxists?

Submitted by Beukeboom on Thu, 05/05/2011 - 11:48am.

Cliff notes for Marxists?

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I'm not booking any Russian prostitute unless I see a photo.

Submitted by SickofLibs on Thu, 05/05/2011 - 11:59am.

.

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It's Russian spam. Hahaha

Submitted by dscott on Thu, 05/05/2011 - 12:55pm.

It's Russian spam. Hahaha

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Followed by verbage in the first paragraph of how difficult it is to get a job in Russia.

bing translator: http://www.microsofttranslator.com/?ref=TThis&from=ru-RU&to=en-US

NB Staff you need to delete this profile

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.
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