On HANNITY, Rob O'Neill Responds to Release of CIA "Torture" Report
"If You Can Walk Away, It's Not Torture," O'Neill Fires Back.
What a firestorm of a week. The U.S. Senate just released its high-profile "special report" on CIA enhanced interrogation techniques, leaving the news outlets buzzing. Many are quick to claim that what the CIA describes as tactical is essentially torture. Others including ex-Navy SEAL Robert J. O’Neill — the man who killed Osama bin Laden — have a very different outlook.
Bottom line… "If you can walk away from it as soon as it ends, it’s not torture," states O'Neill, elaborating, "These are just techniques that can be used to find the truth, find them in a lie, and then exploit it."
Torture? No. Uncomfortable? Yes.
O'Neill explains that what others might consider "torture" are simply standard techniques to make those they're interrogating uncomfortable. When you "use what works," assures O'Neill, "They're going to change their tune."
Exactly what kind of interrogation techniques work?
Clarifying what he means by "using what works," O'Neill explains that "playing loud music, sleep deprivation, stress positions" are highly effective methods. "Something that makes them uncomfortable, something that gets them out of their comfort zone… It’s going to work."
O'Neill ties back effective interrogation techniques directly to the CIA's interactions with 9/11 criminal “mastermind" Khalid Sheik Mohammed.
"Khalid Sheik Mohammed gave us intelligence that led to the courier that led to bin Laden," reminds O'Neill. "It’s not because we got nicer, and we served him better tea. It’s because they were using techniques that weren’t torture, but they were definitely uncomfortable. Once he was pushed to a point, they were relieved and he started to talk."
O'Neill assures, "It’s simple interrogation tactics that work."
Torture or training? Pushed to become a Navy SEAL.
Driving home the fact that it's easy to criticize what you don't really know, O'Neill compares interpretations of torture to the intensive Navy SEAL training he endured. "They used all kinds of techniques on us to make it very, very uncomfortable. We have something called surf torture and drown training," O'Neill describes. "If some of these human rights watch people saw field training, they'd probably try to cancel it."
"We'd lose some of our best military personnel in the world," cautions O'Neill.