Anatomy of an Interrogation | Retro Report | The New York Times

The story of the first and only CIA contractor to be convicted in a torture-related case after an interrogation.
Produced by: Retro Report
Read the story here: nyti.ms/1Qaf8VG
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Anatomy of an Interrogation | Retro Report | The New York Times
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[@kristenlonergan350]

Dude you straight up murdered a guy who turned himself in to clear his name and you're SMILING?

[@dandygirl6]

obvi a crazy person, kinda scary that they promote these people in the CIA naht cool

[@Werrf1]

So, let me get this straight. He took a job he didn't know how to do. In the course of doing that job, he killed a man who may well have been innocent. And he thinks _he's_ the victim?

[@candylove49]

Werrf1 a true psychopath and narcissist.

[@fatasdat]

America is always the victim.. heh

[@drennyvision6141]

And feels PROUD too

[@drennyvision6141]

And in hindsight wouldn't do anything different

[@sam70000]

I think he was thinking back then he is a big shot, just by looking at his face tells he is a sick man

[@maliecollins4872]

Torture vs not torture aside, this man enjoyed recounting what he did. Laughs, faint smile the whole time...he isn't a professional, just a sick man that finds joy in human suffering. He really does act like a guy playing a role in a movie--and he's a bad actor.

[@oliverquach8116]

he is. he said so himself he wasn't trained on interrogations. he used his training on what to do if he is ever tortured himself and used that knowledge. I don't think it's a huge leap in logic to suggest he filled in the rest with what he saw in movies and films.

[@saudiprince6532]

Malie Collins I like to sell my finger nails online

[@drennyvision6141]

I agree. A lot of laughter and plain ol' contentment and smugness in the retelling of this story. But in his defense the fish stinks from the head down. He would not have been able to do ANY of what he did w/o at least one superior giving the "Ok".

[@luxzartheglorious]

Agrreed

[@fdfac]

Yup, spot on sister.

[@thractrack]

I came to this comment section to see what I assumed would be a high ratio of pro torture commenters, and instead was pleasantly surprised to find mostly sane rational humans.

[@Decius.]

thractrack I wouldn’t define myself as “Pro torture”, but if you have someone who is a PROVEN terrorist who likely knows about a planned attack on us troops or citizens, you should be able to interrogate them, not with anything potentially lethal obviously. But this is just awful, because he willingly turned himself in and was not proven guilty of anything.

[@sam70000]

insane don't watch documentaries!

[@davidhollenshead4892]

@@Decius. The catch is that "a PROVEN terrorist who likely knows about a planned attack on us troops or citizens" knows how to give bad Intel, as they are well trained in case of capture. So perhaps you need to do a bit of soul searching, as our Nation tortured Aid Workers, Teachers, etc. with our so called "war on terror"...

[@2126Eliza]

Yup, no Elisabeth Hasselbecks here

[@PartnershipsForYou]

Republicans have a distaste for New York Times

[@cinephilia7]

Any American who's not ashamed isn't listening. Not torture? 17 days in a diaper in a stress position? If it's not torture, then what is it?

[@dsofe4879]

+Ted Houser it's not torture when we do it, it's not terrorism when we do it, it's not wrong when we do it. We're the great nation of America, everything we do is by definition right. Because 'murica.

[@Heckules]

A deviantart fanfiction?

[@9393jack]

Hobo Soup - thanks for demonstrating your stupidity to everyone. You clearly didn't even watch the video. Passaro is a disgrace. Akbar is a real American.

[@sallyvillarreal4294]

Ted Houser - Yes. If your “enhanced interrogation techniques” lead someone to die, that’s torture.

[@taltalmilal5495]

Humiliation isn't torture.

[@misstekhead]

How can this man chuckle when recalling the torture? Absolutely vulgar being.

[@allyourcode]

+Irene Lastnamegoeshere This is what torture does to people who administer it.

[@thepinknightmare8747]

Irene Lastnamegoeshere exactly what I was thinking. I want to smack that smirk off of his face with a flashlight see how he likes it.

[@jpol1439]

Yes, the man gave his true nature away.

[@glynisansara1726]

There was obviously no self reflection or remorse in six years of prison. America needs to admit to war crimes.

[@BB-pt9hv]

Leif K exactly! They actually came out and said most of the people detqined and tortured were innocent. A lot of time they were just random picked off the street. It was torturing innocent people who then just gave false information in hopes that it would stop leading to more innocent victims. There was also kids who were being detained and tortured, a child can NEVER be a terrorist they dont understand actual consequences and cant think about what theyre actually doing for people to do that to kids is disgusting Americans need to practice critical thinking

[@andrewellington9503]

the terrifying thing to me is him saying no one lost any sleep over his death 'I didn't...I still don't '. That kind of institutional indifference for human life is how everyday people become monsters who carry out atrocities without batting an eye as long as it comes as an 'order'.

[@lp.shakur]

same thing with nazi germany, as long as the other side gets "presented" as a monster, the gloves are off

[@seijiedmundson2932]

@@lp.shakur i thouht your example was terrible until i realized it wasnt. its not being patriotic its committing human rights violations its disgusting.

[@aapp953]

Sometimes even when its not an order

[@scriptorpaulina]

And the worst part is, you can see the translator has lost sleep every night since he realized what he did by convincing a potentially innocent man to come in peacefully

[@TheSpiritOfTheTimes]

The guys doing Retro Report are doing really good work.

[@plasterdbastard]

TheSpiritOfTheTimes I know, right? Seriously, I can't get enough of it.

[@GabrielTheMagolorMain]

I love these videos. I'm learning about all these news stories that happened when I was a kid. Really awesome.

[@rachaelhuffman7432]

I agree! I'm surprised that there aren't more views. I wonder if there is a better way for the NYT to market these. I wonder if they have posted them to Twitter...

[@BookofProverbs]

These are so entertaining

[@melli0605]

this guy seems perfectly fine with pretty much killing a man in the most sadistic way possible. disgusting organism i hate to say is the same species as me.

[@dsofe4879]

It doesn't even matter if it's torture or not (which by any definition of the word "torture" it is, btw), what matters is that we KNOW it doesn't work. We didn't get any information and not a single attack was stopped based on information gathered at sites like gitmo. If something so clearly doesn't work, one must wonder why there are people still promoting it and what their true motives are.

[@dsofe4879]

Torture or the fear thereof simply gets people to tell you what they think you want to hear. Back during WW2, a lot of good intelligence was gathered simply by sitting captured Germans down at a bar with a few drinks and a friendly officer who would tickle information out of them beer by beer.

[@ernasabbel8762]

Claiming that it did not work out is based on the goal you asume was objected. Well, some people say, gathering information has never been the goal. The goal was to break these people and make them go back to the middle east and tell everyone what happend to them.

[@zammmerjammer]

"If something so clearly doesn't work, one must wonder why there are people still promoting it and what their true motives are." Seriously? This is the country of abstinence-only education and the War on Drugs. Doing things that clearly don't work seems to be the USA's thing.

[@werearethedreamteam3724]

United States of Embarrassment sinister it goes far beyond our realm..

[@johnwayne6647]

Well the thing is a lot of the time you don’t hear about the attempts of terror attacks cause they just arnt published espically if it’s the cia that does it the government doesn’t show its cards all the time so it’s hard to tell

[@hellokitty4063]

He took a job that he wasn't qualified and he killed someone along the way.

[@jonslg240]

You can't take a job..someone has to give it to you. Whether you earned it or not or deserved it or not.

[@franco7928]

Yeah, it's called collateral damage. Besides, she's how you learn.

[@bilwisss]

was sociopath and narcissisms on his resume?

[@philrabe910]

Lot's of cops and robbers have this gene.

[@jennakaye8377]

Phil Rabe yep

[@riem8966]

He's saying that broken bones constitutes torture, but Passaro fractured Wali's pelvis by kicking him so hard during the interrogation...

[@JerzyFeliksKlein]

I can guarantee you that if he wasn't a contractor it would never see the light of day. Alberto Gonzales legitimizing it is a disgrace and an embaracement. Wht they achived was turning the entire population against the American army and making sure that not a single person ever trusts and cooperates out of fear of getting the same treatment. It is the simplest recipy on how to lose the support of the local population possible.

[@philrabe910]

Jerzy, then we compounded that error when president 45 started deporting translators or blocking them from coming here as they were promised for helping us.

[@lj0339]

He’s a psychopathic murder that has no remorse. He should have spent the rest of his life in the shittiest prison we have-that would have been a better end than he gave that poor man that wasn’t even guilty of what was accused.

[@dudepersonvids]

America has a responsibility to be the "bigger man" in situations like these. If you're an interrogator and you can't get the truth out of someone before literally torturing them to death, you have failed supremely at your job and incited more hatred against our country and those associated with it. Passaro thinks he's tough stuff. He's just a coward with no morality.

[@9s0ddfrrhsu20]

This will become a very sad chapter in US history.

[@myme8208]

Now imagine an American killed in a similar fashion just because he's suspected of terror. Isn't everyone innocent until proven guilty? torturing someone might make the person confess to things they didn't even do to just get out of the situation.

[@larryfair752]

basically the nuremburg defense.

[@mokster5]

God, that Pissaro guy makes me so uncomfortable. I'm not sure how anyone can watch him and not take issue with the kind of toxic masculinity that the military fosters.

[@mixedman841]

Waterboard this fool and see what he thinks afterwords.

[@philrabe910]

Not until he's been chained to a wall for 2 weeks in a dirty diaper.

[@Julia-ci8ud]

Mixed Man i

[@augustanzaldivarisidoro2402]

When we do it, its justice. When they do it, its injustice.

[@ShogunTairaMusic]

Torture should be the physical and/or mental degradation of someone at the hands of another in the hopes of attaining information. Bam. Single definition right there.

[@aleash3907]

I wouldn't even include the attaining information part. Torture is not always for Intel.

[@rustyrober368]

complete disregard for human life. modern America should not accept this

[@oliviapatterson113]

One of the worst chapters in American History😞😞

[@chitownbearsfan34]

Not even close.

[@sayhiku]

This is horrible. Who does he think he is? It's just like the case that was settled last year with no conviction for the contractors that went on a murder rampage and killed civilians. I wish they would have been tried in Iraq rather than the US military court. They then appealed to the US supreme court. Disgusting.

[@madisond453]

That man is absolutely deplorable

[@l.o.v.edrive3466]

This man who tortured people is not a real soldier,but a coward and a sick man.

[@piaonomata9220]

Very, very telling that throughout Passaro's interview he kept describing the people he interrogated not as *suspects*, but as *terrorists*. He had already decided they were guilty--and thus deserving of whatever brutality he saw fit to mete out--before he even started. That's not an interrogation or an investigation; that's persecution and sadism, plain and simple.

[@megalyssa]

Six years for torturing and killing someone. Wow.

[@AJMGK-Family]

That “thing” (who unexpectedly looks like humans) gave a clue to whoever still wonders “why they hate us?”

[@HeckaLives]

To anyone who claims waterboarding isn't torture. Get waterboarded. Literally everyone who has, admits it's torture after the fact. Even the most ardent defenders of 'enhanced interrogation'.

[@JohnSmith-mu8zo]

he said none of what he did constituted as torture when he literally confesses to torturing the guy and is enjoying telling it

[@doctorshell7118]

Ah, the “I was just following orders” spiel. Gotcha. If you’re not willing to undergo it yourself then it’s torture.

[@TheSpacecraftX]

That is an unapologetic torturer.

[@garydomaz1849]

Good to see most of the comments are from good, kind-hearted rational people.

[@ratkingcake5ratkingcake585]

Now I dont blame tbe Taliban for Fighting so hard I would to if I knew this was going to be my fate

[@opalgoon6154]

What an ignorant thing to say, you side with Taliban? Really? They've killed thousands of innocents of their own and of US citizens...that's so irrational to claim Taliban is justified lol just insane

[@mrasmussen90]

As an American I am truly embarrassed that we stooped to this level. We are supposed to be a country that follows the rule of law... “enhanced interrogation” is torture.

[@drennyvision6141]

Alberto Gonzalez the white house rep. would probably feel differently if someone used all those same tactics on him. How would you like to be sleep deprived while someone forces you to do stress positions then water boards you for hours whist naked and someone is screaming at you in a unfamiliar language??

[@crissd8283]

Lets use math. Did these techniques produce any valuable information? Is the information credible (many times under pressure people will say whatever the interrogator wants just to get out even if it is untrue). If half the info obtained this way is found to be false then it is pointless to do this. Now if there is some valuable info obtained is that info more valuable than the lost respect and cooperation of others. If we are doing this and scaring others that would have been willing to come forward but don't due to fear of this treatment then it isn't worth it. Also, is the information valuable enough to counter the fact that we build more enemies this way because more people hate us. I personally think these "enhanced interrogation techniques" were and are a huge net loss.

[@almostfamous5225]

This guy is a clown. Hes a sick human. Exactly who the CIA would hire.

[@teebee3631]

The CIA definitely used Passaro to deflect but he is an absolute monster and deserved to do more time than that.

[@hopeweiss9549]

Oh water boarding isn’t torture? So I’m sure you’ll be the first to step up to have it applied to you so that you can prove it

[@aggressivelyzoe]

when he laughed i just had to pause the video. that’s pure evil

[@lastsc7429]

I love retro report so much 😍

[@Regrettable-Username]

Torture doesn't work, it just makes people say anything they can think of to make it stop.

[@jamesscannell7951]

Alberto gonzalez isn't allowed in some countries because he will be arrested as a war criminal for his role in torture.

[@elwhoa2642]

who ever thinks water boarding isn't torture should try and see for themselves

[@AttilatheThrilla]

6 years? He should be in jail for the rest of his life!!

[@allyourcode]

@10:05 Wow, what a perfect microcosm for this whole so-called "war on terror".

[@3602k10]

Interesting video

[@inigojuancarlos]

And there’s no sign of remorse. Unbelievable!

[@LiSkyFox]

Why did that guy get such a short sentence??? He killed a man it’s not like it was his job to and he didn’t even think that was torture or that he should be sorry WTF HE IS A PUBLIC SAFETY HAZARD

[@nocount1]

It's clear this Passaro character is disturbed. It's scary that it wasn't observed and he was able to slip through the cracks and be allowed that position.

[@Loveroffood41]

Late last year a movie came out that Adam Driver was in. The movie was called the report. I would watch it because there's a lot of information in there about what really happened to the detainees that we had captured after 9/11.

[@jpol1439]

So sick, so evil. Anyone who does this sort of thing to anyone, in any part of the world, regardless of what they are accused of, or who condones it, deserves to be given the same thing themselves, hopefully in a next life. Totally barbaric. Unfortunately it does happen in all parts of the world.

[@shantaldavis569]

He was not doing his job as he was not trained adequately to use the techniques that he used.

[@hamzagassem13]

Who is the terrorists exactly, i'm confused

[@emexdizzy]

Waterboarding isn't torture because you're not causing amputations? By that logic, we could say that getting a brick dropped on your bare toes isn't painful if you don't bleed. Waterboarding is woefully unpleasant and it's done intentionally to coerce information from the person subjected to it. That is what torture is. To deny that is to change the definition of torture by pretending that only certain types of intentionally afflicted, coercive cruelties are "proper" torture.

[@justicewalking]

This guy is a murderer and so are those who put him in his position.

[@bilwisss]

do (NOT) become what you hate.

[@HealthyAndrew]

I feel so bad for the people interrogated

[@gandalfthegay.]

I simply can't listen to a guy, that kills a innocent (not proven guilty) person and doesn't feel any remorse. That wasn't Nazi-Germany, it was his own choice. Six years wasn't enough.

[@rasberryjamdoughnut2288]

Ond day that man will know an extreme amount of pain, and he will wonder why me? I hope he remembers the man he senselessly tortured and killed in that moment

[@atema5320]

Hydar felt uncomfortable and just LEFT without him!!! What was he thinking they would do to him? They already thought he was guilty from the moment they heard his name!

[@maryalicefike4704]

it’s not like this guy had info about a n imminent terror attack, he was accused of POSSIBLY shotting at a base and turned himself in

[@malachykinney1598]

Robert Gonzales, the guy who says waterboarding is not torture, may not know what waterboarding is. What an terrible person. I am ashamed on his behalf because he lacks the moral compass to feel shame. Where is the humanity? Donald Trump has expressed intention to continue torture programs. I think it’s time to take back our democracy. If our government can’t meet basic standards of human rights, their authority is negated. They have broken the social contract.

[@AllIsWellaus]

This America is such a source of so much suffering. He could have, more than likely, be an innocent man.

[@HisameArtwork]

and it seems like his brother was the crazy one. very open ended story

[@zGunTroll]

He recounts the way he tortured him in detail, the denys turturing him.....

[@brandondavidson4085]

Passarro was the government's scapegoat, obviously. That does NOT mean that he was the only person guilty of torture methods, but rather that he was the government's way of saying "Hey, we recognize our mistakes and this is an example of how we'll move past this". He wasn't even an employee of the state, he was a contractor!

[@leeannalynx4890]

Americans were not consumed with fear of terrorists. Americans were skeptical from the start. Even if we had been afraid, which we weren't, we would not have condoned murder and torture. This is DISGUSTING.

[@rosemimi973]

You can see and tell that David Passaro always drew the short straw in life. Being nasty to people is the only thing that makes him feel grand. He killed a guy who tried to clear himself and doesn't even feel sorry. What a sad excuse of a man.

[@megalyssa]

This is not “interrogation” or “enhanced techniques”. This is torture. Not only is it unethical, it doesn’t work. People will say anything to get you to stop torturing them because OF COURSE THEY WILL

[@africarib]

So they're confused about what's torture? ok how about we have it done to you first? This is what happens when you write rules allowing one group to be seen as not human. You can justify any and every despicable thing done to them.

[@aggressivelyzoe]

water boarding isn’t torture?! when someone says torture i immediately think of waterboarding

[@2126Eliza]

It doesn't help that a lot of recruits have the IQ of a turnip. Some are bright, of course... but not nearly enough.

[@katherinep7626]

The 2 -3 hours of sleep thing. My kids did it to me without mercy for their first 3 years 😭

[@johnwayne6647]

Now it all depends on what you define as torture if you define humiliation as Torture then it opens up the door to anything and if you consider psychological stress and confinement as torture then solitary confinement is Torture just food for thought

[@mrjjman103]

waterboard that guy at 11:10 then see if he still thinks its not torture

[@eggowaffle4040]

id do the same to him and see how his opinion on "him just doing his job" changes

[@aapp953]

Didnt we learn in school that torture is the #1 way to coerce false confessions? Medieval times? Roman Catholic church?

[@nilsp9426]

This man is a horror, but he is also a product of the way the war on terror was administered and fought. It is absurd that the CIA and US government just tries to define torture for everyone after the fact. Torture is defined by people who study interrogation techniques and their history scientifically, as well as by the declaration of human rights and similar efforts. No wonder the US lost a lot of trust from other nations (including allies) over the war on terror.

[@idcraw]

Hiding behind his claim to do his duty shameful

[@tidypog3272]

Whether or not it's torture doesn't even matter. By the bill of rights, the government can't do anything cruel or unusual to prisoners. There you go.

[@brittaharper8789]

I’m not condoning anything that happened, HOWEVER no comment I have read has come from someone who has been in war as a soldier, not a mechanic, not someone who drove a transport truck, an infantryman on the ground. We don’t know what it was like, we have never been in war. Except I don’t know anyone who was in the war in Afghanistan or Iraq who would be able to be so blasé about an event like this.

[@kdohertygizbur]

So his friend just leaves him there , even though he had a bad feeling about Passaro - I would not be showing up on video telling that story

[@pp-ng9cw]

Dave said he doesn’t think anyone lost any sleep over Diwali’s death but this man has a family and friends out there wtf

[@jackgale813]

i think torture is when you inflict any kind of pain to an unwilling person

[@jamespower1249]

Faceplam

[@betacase07]

A wise man once said, "This is America, dont catch you slipping"

[@zklpr4661]

Now I know almost nothing about the geneva convention, but outside of that, all if fair in war.

[@-Meric-]

Ruby Infernum Torture isn't fair. Both in the Constitution and the Geneva conventions

[@lucabianchi8782]

There’s a point where torture would go to far. Some of it might be necessary in a sense but at some point there’s a line

[@aleash3907]

So he took a job he wasn't trained for, had no training, and based his methods off of what the USA was worried they would have done to them by terrorists? And he has no shame and thinks he did nothing wrong? Even chuckling while recounting his involvement? He is disgusting. Should have served a much longer imprisonment.

[@sarayusarayu832]

Passaro was a scapegoat for a corrupt system. We should hold the whole system accountable.

[@JACKBLACKTOSE]

Sounds like my guy over here should give waterboarding a shot 11:23

[@redpenink12]

Anyone who says waterboarding isn't torture needs to volunteer to be waterboarded. That will change their mind fast!

[@scifigeek14]

listen i think that this guy clearly has no conscious if he literally doesnt care that he cause the death of a human (let alone one who willingly turned himself in and was potentially innocent). its inhumane. but it isnt just his fault. there are people who should have checked in, kept people in check. there should have been more people responsible for making sure this doesnt happen.

[@theangrykorean5194]

10:24 Disgusting monster...

[@andymacedo5821]

Just think next year at this time will be almost four straight years ! That’s inspiring ! Keep up the great work !

[@MichaelLeichtML]

So how exactly aren't these guys just like any gestapo officer?

[@avacatherine5646]

I feel so awful for that translator.