John is so great, I can listen to him for hours! You can clearly tell he's soured on the CIA and critical of them, which is not something you get from other CIA officers on these types of videos. Insider absolutely HAS TO have him on for a part 2!
Well, he has an agenda. Would rather have someone who can speak from their experience without trying to influence the listeners to feel a certain way about a government agency.
@skylend just because he speaks facts about an extremely poorly regulated arm of the government with very little oversight or accountability, doesn't mean he's pushing an agenda. He was asked for his opinion, he is giving his opinion based on his own experiences. If the truth makes you feel a certain way about the agency, then maybe that's worth looking into further rather than dismissing it as an agenda.
"There was never any intent to take Bin Laden alive." Wow, so much has happened since then that I actually forgot that he was once public enemy number 1.
Refreshing to hear the truth for a change and not US propaganda about terrorism and the BS "war on terror". Especially the part where he talks about torture being completely INEFFECTIVE for counter terrorism and intelligence gathering.
Its his opinion. He is one dude. I guess we will never hear from the people who "been there, done that, got the T-Shirt" and say otherwise so... Kinda not valid to say this form of intelligence gathering isn't valid.
@kermit_the_frog Exactly he was there and has done it? He was Chief of Counterterrorism operations in Pakistan, responsible for investigating and performing raids on Al-Qaeda as well as cooperating with local intelligence agencies. That means every piece of information "gained" from the torture program as well as other interrogation methods and sources went through his desk and he had to decide what to do with it. I'm not exactly sure who else is supposed to be qualified to determine whether torture worked or not. Other than the government investigators who went through the data afterwards and analyzed what information came from where and what impact the torture program had on getting actionable intelligence. Their findings concur with his opinion, information gained from torture was either worthless or actively detrimental.
@@Kremit_the_Forg US Senate did a report a decade ago analyzing over six years of the CIA's use of torture and found it was not effective. Napoleon, writing over 200 years ago said that "It has always been recognized that this way of interrogating men by putting them to torture produces nothing worthwhile". Torture gets you information. It does not get you true information. people will say whatever they think will make the torture stop. So not only does it not get you the truth, but now you have to spend effort figuring out what information was false. Systemically, torture does not work and has never worked.
For anyone wondering, John’s life story is remarkable, yet sad at the same time. You guys need to listen to him on some podcasts. Very smart, intelligent & all round interesting guy.
I thought one of the takeaways of Zero Dark Thirty was to show that SPECIFICALLY torture didn't work and it wasn't til they offered the carrot that they got anything usable.
If you EVER get him back pleeeease make him react to a ton of Mossad movies and series! Like The Spy, Ghost of Beirut, The Debt. There are SO many good ones! Ask me for more! Btw, Homeland was based on a Israeli show!
A lot of people are critical of him and other veterans from across the services, but I think there is a danger in promising/indoctrinating/recruiting people via apparent, completely innocent, blameless, truthful and altruistic ideologies and then not deliver on that promise. Our brains just aren't built to accept that wholeheartedly.
"The duty of any true patriot is to protect its citizens from its government." - Thomas Paine John Kiriakou is a true patriot. Very, very few would have the courage and balls to do what John did both while employed by the CIA and especially what caused him to leave the agency. Thank you for your service John.
Just a great segment,video. I took notes! Gonna watch The Report! And John, we all know you are a hero and have suffered to make this country a better place! You’re always relevant, interesting and fun. And why did you have to carry a gun in Athens? Must be a good story behind that place😊.
I think there are two reasons why they portrayed the torture in zero dark thirty. First the CIA gave the film support and cooperation and leveraged that relationship to make the torture programs appear fruitful to the audience to help justify its use. Second the torture of prisoners happened, its part of the history and thus part of the story that should be told, and it would not make sense to show the torture yet not have serve some purpose to the story they were telling. I can justify the second reason, but not the first. From what I have read and understand torture is a very unreliable way to get information, and its against every international convention on the treatment of criminals or combatants (whichever side you fall on where a terrorist should belong). To my knowledge the torture of prisoners never yielded any major intelligence.
John’s an extraordinary person.. an outlier who stood up for what’s right while under fire. Very VERY few people have these values, and I commend him for his service and his values.
7:00 contrary to what he says, Zero Dark Thirty showed how the analysis WAS the main driver of catching Bin Laden, but that the torture plus flattery and bribery got the CIA the name they needed to track: Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti. All of the above turned out to be useful in this case. I’m not saying torture was necessary or appropriate but in this case it paid off.
they tortured during the Bush administration in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. The administration and the CIA were acting like they had to find ticking bombs. By the time they find bin Laden, US policy of torture had ended in disgrace. Besides, the U.S. government didn't want him alive, most likely, because they had zero interest in trying him in court. If you have him, alive, and in custody, you have to do something with him and as long as he was alive, and public knew, it would lead to Tom, Dick and Harry, targeting U.S. as a direct result.
Actually, I'm fairly certain that Silva was part of Spectre and not exactly a "lone wolf". Even though he operated with a certain level of autonomy. (1:40)
I had occasion to visit Mazar i Sharif in 2003. My Afgan host in a car, took me on a tour of the city. Many Afgan men were sitting on their stoop. It immediately remind me of the real/potential Viet Kong sitting in front of their hootch waiting for the "word"
I'm shocked to this CIA agent make the outlandish claim James Bond and Ethan Hunt aren't realistic. "Not as sexy as..." Hmm... I think our expert doesn't want to or isn't allowed to tell us about all of the super-model quality ladies he had to seduce, the supervillain lairs he has visited (on Earth, under the sea, and in space) and the world ending plots he stopped while on the job or after being fired and told to stay away and then doing the job anyway and getting government approval afterwards. Also, all of the puns after killing someone. I'm sure he used lots of puns.
I love this entire series, but there are occasionally quite beautiful and painful moments where people with extensive experience in their fields, such as Mr. Kiriakou, discuss their past. Specifically, at 23:44, you can see an immediate reflection where only silence can speak for unspoken truths. The "disconnect" between Americans, whose drone strikes and military operations killed, tortured, and wounded so many Afghans over the course of two decades, and the Taliban, who for all their faults - and there are many, had taken no action offensively against the United States besides classical Afghan hospitality (in that they refused to turn over al-Qaeda terrorists living in Afghanistan). All of what could be avoided - painfully clear on John's face for a flashing moment.
they didnt refuse to hand them over. they asked for the evidence. there was only one 9/11 trial btw. and all they could prove was moussaoui "knew in advance" about the attacks. they didnt link him to the inside trading btw.
1:06 I bet that's the moment he stopped himself abruptly to think about whether saying "Athens" actually constituted a form of revealing stats secrets!
@@gagepg the editing looks deceptive as well, look at the cut were he says " It wasn't the torture - that gaveup osama' idk some foul play or minor oversight, can never know with these CIA glowies xD
@@aster_ISK I think you're misunderstanding. He's saying, torture did take place but it was ineffective, and it was actual work by TOs that led to the intel needed for the Bin Laden raid.
Interrogation a la John Kiriakou: "Hello Mr. Terrorist, if in any way possible, could we then have the target of your next operation? Please? Thank you so much, a good day to you as well"
John Kiriakou is a brilliant story teller, and truly a man of conscience. If you havent seen his interviews going into detail about his time at the CIA, you should absolutely find em. And after that.... listen to his story about going to and his time in prison, truly brilliant!
I personally think airstrikes are stupid, wasting all that money on bombs and civilian casualties. Why not just use a sniper, a bullet is just a few dollars where some bombs are sometimes over $100k
Snipers take longer to insert and extract than an aircraft zipping in and out of the area. Snipers as assassins would also require you to be able to predict the movement of a target days in advance whereas aircraft already in the area only need hours, maybe minutes of advance notice. Using snipers risks military lives - the lives of people with rare, hard to replace skills - while drone strikes only risk replaceable hardware, if they even risk anything at all. We should also remember that the primary role of snipers is NOT long-range killing, its reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. I don’t like civilian collateral either, but the real world isn’t as simple as “use a sniper.”
CIA officer rates: 'From all accounts..." I was Army intelligence and dealt with these and other 'people' all the time. We had a maxim - 'Truth cannot be told with lies, but lies can be told with the truth'.
John has a remarkable back story for those of you that have never heard it.
John is so great, I can listen to him for hours! You can clearly tell he's soured on the CIA and critical of them, which is not something you get from other CIA officers on these types of videos. Insider absolutely HAS TO have him on for a part 2!
Well, he has an agenda. Would rather have someone who can speak from their experience without trying to influence the listeners to feel a certain way about a government agency.
@@Skylyned The others have an agenda. That is why your Mike Bakers and the dude with the goofy hair exist. No government agency is your friend.
I mean, he was complicit in the torture program for a full 4 years before he left. He's not exactly a saint.
@skylend just because he speaks facts about an extremely poorly regulated arm of the government with very little oversight or accountability, doesn't mean he's pushing an agenda. He was asked for his opinion, he is giving his opinion based on his own experiences.
If the truth makes you feel a certain way about the agency, then maybe that's worth looking into further rather than dismissing it as an agenda.
@Salted_Fysh look at his other interviews, definitely an agenda.
So glad they have finally decided to have John Kiriakou looped into these. Those who know, know he is the real deal.
💯
Listen to his dalton fisher podcast, it’s really good
@@kevinfleming also his interviews with Julian Dorey
Yeah okay, let him tell us what the drones are then
I'm just cringing because terrorists are taking notes lol
"There was never any intent to take Bin Laden alive." Wow, so much has happened since then that I actually forgot that he was once public enemy number 1.
simpler times
John's perspective and insight is so interesting - and his diction is top shelf. Can listen to him for hours and hours
John is the best! He’s an encyclopedia and an incredible story teller
Refreshing to hear the truth for a change and not US propaganda about terrorism and the BS "war on terror".
Especially the part where he talks about torture being completely INEFFECTIVE for counter terrorism and intelligence gathering.
Its his opinion. He is one dude.
I guess we will never hear from the people who "been there, done that, got the T-Shirt" and say otherwise so... Kinda not valid to say this form of intelligence gathering isn't valid.
@kermit_the_frog
Exactly he was there and has done it?
He was Chief of Counterterrorism operations in Pakistan, responsible for investigating and performing raids on Al-Qaeda as well as cooperating with local intelligence agencies.
That means every piece of information "gained" from the torture program as well as other interrogation methods and sources went through his desk and he had to decide what to do with it.
I'm not exactly sure who else is supposed to be qualified to determine whether torture worked or not. Other than the government investigators who went through the data afterwards and analyzed what information came from where and what impact the torture program had on getting actionable intelligence.
Their findings concur with his opinion, information gained from torture was either worthless or actively detrimental.
@@Kremit_the_Forg US Senate did a report a decade ago analyzing over six years of the CIA's use of torture and found it was not effective. Napoleon, writing over 200 years ago said that "It has always been recognized that this way of interrogating men by putting them to torture produces nothing worthwhile".
Torture gets you information. It does not get you true information. people will say whatever they think will make the torture stop. So not only does it not get you the truth, but now you have to spend effort figuring out what information was false. Systemically, torture does not work and has never worked.
I would pay gold to know the things this man has seen and knows
The one CIA agent with a concience and they put him in jail for 30 months.
I am here before this either blows up or gets deleted!!
The amount of facts this man just spit out is incredible!
I'm a simple man, I see John Kiriakou, I click
Wow. A lot of respect for his decision and standing up to it.
CIA being CIA even on Hollywood production is the most CIA thing you could think of.
Producers don’t like my comment. Clean the lint off the man’s jacket. He’s your guest.
I LOVE this man and his transparency. As a CSE and OA survivor, who works in healing torture, I want to work with him. Thank you, sir.
This is probably the best one of these ever done. Remarkable insight.
For anyone wondering, John’s life story is remarkable, yet sad at the same time. You guys need to listen to him on some podcasts. Very smart, intelligent & all round interesting guy.
5:34 Can't do counter-terrorisim, if you yourself aren't terrorizing people.
Do a part two with John. I want him to see scenes from 24. He should get a good kick out of the show
This was incredible. Would love to hear more from him.
I thought one of the takeaways of Zero Dark Thirty was to show that SPECIFICALLY torture didn't work and it wasn't til they offered the carrot that they got anything usable.
but after they tricked him.
I don't know the true story, but both of what he said could be true; torture and data analysis.
Torture does work. It also doesn’t work because people will say anything after a certain point.
Yes, totally agree!
The fact that this man got his dignity and respect back from the people is hope inspiring as far as the politics in this country
Great to see John on this finally!
I’d love to hear his take on the movie Traitor, and the importance of understanding your enemy
If you EVER get him back pleeeease make him react to a ton of Mossad movies and series! Like The Spy, Ghost of Beirut, The Debt. There are SO many good ones! Ask me for more!
Btw, Homeland was based on a Israeli show!
Please mention the names of the movies aswell in description or topcomment
This breakdown was very engaging and i found John Kiriakou's explanation interesting.
John Kiriakou is a real American hero.
Brilliant!! Could listen to him for days.
I could watch him talk for 100 more episodes on the same topic
I see John Kiriakou in Thumbnail, I watch.
That lil' white speck was a gift to the edit.
A lot of people are critical of him and other veterans from across the services, but I think there is a danger in promising/indoctrinating/recruiting people via apparent, completely innocent, blameless, truthful and altruistic ideologies and then not deliver on that promise. Our brains just aren't built to accept that wholeheartedly.
Can highly recommend listen to the podcasts with John Kiriakou. Great listens.
If this guy was on Sesame Street, I would take Notes. The humility, the genuine respect for humanity--I believe anything this guy says.
Loved the video!!
"The duty of any true patriot is to protect its citizens from its government." - Thomas Paine John Kiriakou is a true patriot. Very, very few would have the courage and balls to do what John did both while employed by the CIA and especially what caused him to leave the agency. Thank you for your service John.
Just a great segment,video. I took notes! Gonna watch The Report! And John, we all know you are a hero and have suffered to make this country a better place! You’re always relevant, interesting and fun. And why did you have to carry a gun in Athens? Must be a good story behind that place😊.
I think there are two reasons why they portrayed the torture in zero dark thirty. First the CIA gave the film support and cooperation and leveraged that relationship to make the torture programs appear fruitful to the audience to help justify its use. Second the torture of prisoners happened, its part of the history and thus part of the story that should be told, and it would not make sense to show the torture yet not have serve some purpose to the story they were telling. I can justify the second reason, but not the first. From what I have read and understand torture is a very unreliable way to get information, and its against every international convention on the treatment of criminals or combatants (whichever side you fall on where a terrorist should belong). To my knowledge the torture of prisoners never yielded any major intelligence.
That's why we have the Ginsu missle now.
Wow he might be my favorite in this series, that was really interesting
John’s an extraordinary person.. an outlier who stood up for what’s right while under fire. Very VERY few people have these values, and I commend him for his service and his values.
John Kiriakou took massive stand before and even today stood on what he said before !
Two enthusiastic thumbs up on this one! I would love to see a movie about the “activity” or the ISA (Army’s tier one “CIA”)
Can you imagine what this guys panic room looks like? It feels wrong to know the things he just spoke on
Nice video! Could you please add timestamps next video onwards? Thanks!
About time yall had him on
If you dont have the stomach to win you should get out of the way.
2:30 His tone sounds too chipper, like Mr Rogers telling a bedtime story 😅
its crazy how the intelligence community really doesn't care. I always bought into the minimizing casualties bit.
Congrats John you're the perfect guy for this!
23:44 i laughed so hard
7:00 contrary to what he says, Zero Dark Thirty showed how the analysis WAS the main driver of catching Bin Laden, but that the torture plus flattery and bribery got the CIA the name they needed to track: Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti. All of the above turned out to be useful in this case. I’m not saying torture was necessary or appropriate but in this case it paid off.
John's a legend.
VX nerve gas … also the star of the hit the Rock
Interesting insights into the "work" of the CIA.
I wonder what was edited out just around the 57 second mark?
@5:14 which movie is it though?
Zero Dark Thirty
Let's see who will be the good soul to list all the movies...
why did they torture the underlings and yet when they find the "mastermind" with no resistance they kill him immediately.
they tortured during the Bush administration in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. The administration and the CIA were acting like they had to find ticking bombs. By the time they find bin Laden, US policy of torture had ended in disgrace. Besides, the U.S. government didn't want him alive, most likely, because they had zero interest in trying him in court. If you have him, alive, and in custody, you have to do something with him and as long as he was alive, and public knew, it would lead to Tom, Dick and Harry, targeting U.S. as a direct result.
Kiriakou an actual national hero
Actually, I'm fairly certain that Silva was part of Spectre and not exactly a "lone wolf". Even though he operated with a certain level of autonomy. (1:40)
Can you guys do Rugby player rates Rugby scenes in movie and Tv?
Poor guy looks like he had to re-live all his trauma.
Wait, not a single scene from 24 was rated??
Yes! I'be been watching a bunch of John Kiriakou's interviews -- I love heaaring him and his story
*John Kiriakou is a real hero.*
Executive Decision, Air Force One, Alias & etc???
Wow!! The Recruit, is more real thing than Spy Game....
John is the best. Let's get him pardoned for the unfair treatment this patriotic American has been subjected to!!!!
I had occasion to visit Mazar i Sharif in 2003. My Afgan host in a car, took me on a tour of the city. Many Afgan men were sitting on their stoop. It immediately remind me of the real/potential Viet Kong sitting in front of their hootch waiting for the "word"
John Kiriakou is an American hero.
I'm shocked to this CIA agent make the outlandish claim James Bond and Ethan Hunt aren't realistic. "Not as sexy as..." Hmm...
I think our expert doesn't want to or isn't allowed to tell us about all of the super-model quality ladies he had to seduce, the supervillain lairs he has visited (on Earth, under the sea, and in space) and the world ending plots he stopped while on the job or after being fired and told to stay away and then doing the job anyway and getting government approval afterwards.
Also, all of the puns after killing someone. I'm sure he used lots of puns.
I think Jason Bateman should play him in a movie... great vocal resemblance
Oh I think you’re on to something
i'm an idiot on geopolitics but i would not expect athens to be a place for him to carry a gun.
I love this entire series, but there are occasionally quite beautiful and painful moments where people with extensive experience in their fields, such as Mr. Kiriakou, discuss their past. Specifically, at 23:44, you can see an immediate reflection where only silence can speak for unspoken truths. The "disconnect" between Americans, whose drone strikes and military operations killed, tortured, and wounded so many Afghans over the course of two decades, and the Taliban, who for all their faults - and there are many, had taken no action offensively against the United States besides classical Afghan hospitality (in that they refused to turn over al-Qaeda terrorists living in Afghanistan). All of what could be avoided - painfully clear on John's face for a flashing moment.
they didnt refuse to hand them over. they asked for the evidence. there was only one 9/11 trial btw. and all they could prove was moussaoui "knew in advance" about the attacks. they didnt link him to the inside trading btw.
13:57 😅😂😂😂😂
No jack ryan... : (😭😱😢
If you like it you should search for a podcast with him, where he is telling crazy stories for 5 hours straight.
Thank God for someone with reason who isn't a us apologist.
Why not have him react to Jack Ryan season 1?
this dude is legit
Kiriakou is a legend!
1:06 I bet that's the moment he stopped himself abruptly to think about whether saying "Athens" actually constituted a form of revealing stats secrets!
Or stopped himself from saying a place other than Athens and Pakistan that are already public information..
You’ve never read anything by him, obviously
"We dont use torture. Also, we use torture" lmao
Not sure how he was THAT self unaware
@@gagepg the editing looks deceptive as well, look at the cut were he says " It wasn't the torture - that gaveup osama' idk some foul play or minor oversight, can never know with these CIA glowies xD
@@aster_ISK I think you're misunderstanding. He's saying, torture did take place but it was ineffective, and it was actual work by TOs that led to the intel needed for the Bin Laden raid.
It was poor editing
@Jst4vdeos yeah, it definitely was wonky.
Nice
John makes me fan girl a little
Yassou Yianni!
Go watch/listen to this 6-hour podcast he did. Incredible stuff.
John is a great guy and guest!
I like how this guy is more transparent than the entire cia public relations team
Early gang🎉
War is no excuse for murder.
It is not murder
@@John_Smith_86 Killing another person isn't murder?
@@georgesam363 No, obviously not. Seriously, dude? You went to school like everyone else, right?
Murder is no excuse to start a war
Interrogation a la John Kiriakou: "Hello Mr. Terrorist, if in any way possible, could we then have the target of your next operation? Please? Thank you so much, a good day to you as well"
(The US) Capable of all that.
Planning all of that.
Executing all of that.
But sure, 9/11 was definately not an inside job.
The blade are sharpen man i wonder if gonna break cause from sheesh man just sheesh i have no words in this
John Kiriakou is a brilliant story teller, and truly a man of conscience. If you havent seen his interviews going into detail about his time at the CIA, you should absolutely find em. And after that.... listen to his story about going to and his time in prison, truly brilliant!
I personally think airstrikes are stupid, wasting all that money on bombs and civilian casualties. Why not just use a sniper, a bullet is just a few dollars where some bombs are sometimes over $100k
Snipers take longer to insert and extract than an aircraft zipping in and out of the area. Snipers as assassins would also require you to be able to predict the movement of a target days in advance whereas aircraft already in the area only need hours, maybe minutes of advance notice. Using snipers risks military lives - the lives of people with rare, hard to replace skills - while drone strikes only risk replaceable hardware, if they even risk anything at all. We should also remember that the primary role of snipers is NOT long-range killing, its reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.
I don’t like civilian collateral either, but the real world isn’t as simple as “use a sniper.”
can you get this guy a suit that fits?
CIA officer rates: 'From all accounts..."
I was Army intelligence and dealt with these and other 'people' all the time. We had a maxim - 'Truth cannot be told with lies, but lies can be told with the truth'.