Seth Hettena is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and a freelance journalist. He reports on politics, organized crime, and international affairs. From 1997-2006, Hettena was a reporter and correspondent at The Associated Press in Detroit, Sacramento, Baltimore, and San Diego. Prior to that, he worked at two small newspapers in Iowa. He is the author of two books, Trump/Russia: A Definitive History and Feasting on the Spoils: The Life and Times of Randy "Duke" Cunningham, History's Most Corrupt Congressman. He is also runs a Weekly column at SpyTalk where we will discuss two of his articles at length involving the FBI investigation into Saudi government funding of two future 9/11 hijackers, Operation Encore, and the Canestraro documents revelations, as well as the current pre-hearings of four of the 9/11 defendants, at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Exclusive: FBI Agents Accuse CIA of 9/11 Coverup:

https://www.spytalk.co/p/exclusive-fbi-agents-accuse-cia-of

Yet Another Delay in Saudi-Related 9/11 Docs Case:

https://www.spytalk.co/p/yet-another-delay-in-saudi-related

In this episode, i talk about the capture and eventual torture of the man alleged to have operated and planned the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Mohammed was captured while hiding in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on March 1st 2003. While in CIA custody, Mohammed underwent various torture methods, also known as, the enhanced interrogation techniques. Mohammed was subjected to punching to the face and stomach, sleep deprivation, rectal rehydration and waterboarding. He was transferred to various countries where secret CIA black sites were held including, Poland, Lithuania, Afghanistan and Romania.

As of September 2006, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba where he currently awaits trial for conspiracy and other charges in facilitating the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks. However, because Mohammed was tortured, along with the 4 others charged in the conspiracy, his admission's cannot be used as evidence. What does the federal government and CIA have as evidence then?

The Rendition Project:

https://www.therenditionproject.org.uk/prisoners/khaled-sheikh-mohammed.html

Senate Select Committe on Intelligence Regarding CIA's Use of Torture:

https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CRPT-113srpt288.pdf

Cole M. Bunzel is a fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. A historian and Arabist, he studies the history and contemporary affairs of the Islamic Middle East, with a particular focus on violent Islamism and the Arabian Peninsula. He is the editor of the blog Jihadica and has written widely on the ideology of Sunni jihadism. His current book project, "Wahhabism: The History of a Militant Islamic Movement" which draws on an array of rare manuscripts and other primary sources in Arabic, provides a new account of the history and doctrine of Wahhabism, the puritanical Islamic revivalist movement that arose in central Arabia in the 18th century, will be the main focus of our conversation today.

Bunzel received his MA in international relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and his BA and PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University. He has been a research fellow in Islamic law and civilization at the Yale Law School, and is a nonresident fellow at the George Washington University Program on Extremism.

Wahhābism: The History of a Militant Islamic Movement:

https://www.amazon.com/Wahh%C4%81bism-History-Militant-Islamic-Movement/dp/0691241597 Jihadica: https://www.jihadica.com/