James ("Jim") Mitchell, frame grab from ABC video (4/2009). ABC News, via New York Times.
Journalist Jason Leopold tells us,
Recently, I conducted a wide-ranging, two hour interview with retired Air Force psychologist James Mitchell, who is credited with being the architect of the CIA's torture program. Mitchell and his partner, Dr. Bruce Jessen, are featured prominently in the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the CIA's detention and interrogation program. This is the first time Mitchell has spoken at length about interrogation since he was linked to the program by Jane Mayer in 2005.
Check out Jason's reports in The Guardian, which also feature audio clips of an interview with Mitchell — who is said to have waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He defends torture as having been neccesary to "defend the country."
In the interview, Mitchell reveals that he is very fond of the phrase "threat matrix," believes global warming is bogus, and believes the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, is a "shit sandwich."
See also this related New York Times story from 2009, profiling Mitchell and his colleagues.
Detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Image: US Department of Defense.
