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The New York Times reported last week that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, was waterboarded 183 times in one month by CIA interrogators. The "183 times" was widely circulated by news outlets throughout the world.
It was shocking. And it was highly misleading. The number is a vast inflation, according to information from a U.S. official and the testimony of the terrorists themselves.
A U.S. official with knowledge of the interrogation program told FOX News that the much-cited figure represents the number of times water was poured onto Mohammed's face -- not the number of times the CIA applied the simulated-drowning technique on the terror suspect. According to a 2007 Red Cross report, he was subjected a total of "five sessions of ill-treatment."
"The water was poured 183 times -- there were 183 pours," the official explained, adding that "each pour was a matter of seconds."
Wait what, 183 POURS?
All of those individual pours were scrupulously counted by the CIA, according to the memos, to abide by the procedures set up for the waterboardings.
"t is important that every application of the waterboard be thoroughly documented: how long each application (and the entire procedure) lasted, how much water was used in the process," read a memo from May 10, 2005.
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the only other detainee known to be waterboarded, was not discussed in the memos.
The Times wrote that until the release of the memos, "the precise number" of 286 total waterboardings was not known.
And the precise number of waterboarding sessions is still not known. What is known is that Mohammed was not waterboarded 183 times.
Despite Reports, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Was Not Waterboarded 183 Times - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com
So they were careful to follow guidelines, there were strict uses placed on the water boarding... yeah.