president obama and apply those when considering your confirmation. senator feinstein was kind enough about a year ago to send me a book by peter bergen called man hunt, the ten-year history of the search of osama bin laden, where as i was thumbing through it recently i was reminded that post-9/11 president bush was concerned about reports that he had received that osama bin laden and al qaeda was meeting with pakistani officials connected with their nuclear program to gain access to a nuclear device that they might then use for a follow-on attack against cities like washington, d.c. without divulging classified
operation. he was also behind the infamous plot in the philippines. tragically, he was the individual personally kill ed a wall street correspondent and filmed that heinous act. he also, after 9/11, carried out an attack on a synagogue in tunisia, and he had other attacks planned. we were able to warn allies about a planned attack, for example, on heathrow airport. mr. nasiri was the amir of the attack in 2000 on the uss cole in which we lost 17 sailors. he also was behind the attack on a french ship, limbburg, and he was the al qaeda chief of operations in the gulf and arabian peninsula.
scientists. so here we sit years following the terrible events of 9/11, feeling very safe and secure thanks to the incredible work being done by intelligence community including the good men and women at the cia as well as the men and women who serve in the united states military were feeling very safe and secure and the memories of that terrible event are very distant, but it strikes me that in addition to the double standard that i believe you and this president are being held to compared to secretary brennan and director brennan and president obama s administration that people have simply forgotten and that s dangerous to have forgotten the circumstances under which they were operating at the time and doing their dead level best to protect the country from a follow-on attack.
this to enhanced interrogation techniques i believe as many people and directors who have sat in this chair before me that valuable information was obtained from senior al qaeda operatives that allowed us to defend this country and prevent another attack. is that a yes? no, it s not a yes. we got valuable information from debriefing of al qaeda detainees. i don t think it s knowable whether interrogation techniques played a role in that. thank you. senator cornyn. i note that one prominent national security expert has said that if president obama had nominated you to be director of the c.i.a., it would be an easy decision to support your nomination. so it strikes me that you are being treated much differently than director brennan was, which senator cotton noted he was voted out of this committee by a vote of 12-3 and confirmed
our moral authority as americans and as a country. so one question i have not heard you answer is do you believe that the previous interrogation techniques were immoral? senator, i believe that c.i.a. officers to whom you referred it s a yes or no answer. do you believe the previous interrogation techniques were immoral? i m not asking do you believe they were legal. do you believe they were immoral? senator, i believe that c.i.a. does extraordinary work to prevent another attack on this country given the legal authority we were able to use. do you believe that those techniques were immoral? what i believe sitting here today is i support the higher moral standard we have decided to hold ourselves to. please answer the question.