Tag: CIA

Letter from Prison – John Kiriakou [Letters of note]

John Kiriakou was jailed for 30 months for whistle-blowing against the CIA’s torture methods. He wrote this letter from jail. Please take the time to read.

The letter details his life in prison, including an incident in which prison officials attempted setup a confrontation between Kiriakou and a Muslim prisoner, telling Kiriakou he was the uncle of the Times Square bomber, when in reality the imam was in prison for refusing to testify in the Lackawanna Six case. Prison officials also lied to the Muslim prisoner, telling him that Kiriakou had called Washington after they met and had been ordered to kill him.

First they came for the communists [article]

John Kiriakou, an ex CIA staffer, was jailed for 2.5 years, for blowing the whistle on the torture techniques that the CIA uses on its “terrorist” prisoners. Before his investigation, he was a decorated member of the staff, until he disagreed with the CIA’s operational techniques.

And for those of us who don’t care about things that don’t impact us directly, this quote from Martin Niemoller summarizes it well:

First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.

Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Catholic.

Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.