Can the ’20th hijacker’ of Sept. 11 stand trial?

Bill Dedman reported on the torture of Guantanamo detainee Mohammed al-Qahtani and Mark and the CITF’s battles to try to prevent his torture.  Dedman described the SERE tactics that were used on the prisoner and approvals by the Secretary of Defense.  Mark told NBC “You’re talking illegal acts here.  The secretary of defense can’t change the law.  One of the things that we told our personnel was the fact that during Nuremberg, Nazi war criminals were actually tried for acts that were perpetrated by them under orders of their superiors.”  Mark also told NBC that “The techniques made some detainees unprosecutable.”

Notes Show Confusion on Interrogation Methods

Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane reporting on a CIA lawyer’s visit to Guantanamo who said the torture laws were vaguely written and that it was basically subject to perception, as well as “If the detainee dies, you’re doing it wrong.”  The NY Times described Mark’s and his comments that “That looks like the kinds of stuff Congressional hearings are made of” and “Someone needs to be considering how history will look back at this.”

Event Date
2008-06-18
Pub/Org
New York Times

CIA advised military on questioning at Guantanamo

McClatchy reported on Mark’s reaction after a CIA lawyer came to Guantanamo to explain how the CIA was implementing their interrogation torture program.  McClatchy quoted from an email Mark wrote saying “This looks like the kinds of stuff Congressional hearings are mad of” and Someone needs to be considering how history will look back at this.”

Event Date
2008-06-17
Pub/Org
McClatchy

ILEETA Trains the Trainers!

Hendon Media Group published an article from ILEETA President Ed Nowicki announcing nearly 800 people attended the 2009 ILEETA Conference.  Mark was the keynote speaker and stressed the importance of 21st-century training for 21st-century learning.  Mark talked about some of the challenges training a Generation X and Y workforce, as more and more baby boomers are retiring.

Event Date
2009-06-01
Pub/Org
Hendon Media Group

Obama Rethinking ‘Miranda’ Rights

Officials from the White House, Justice Department and Congress are considering revisions to the criminal rights afforded defendants upon arrest.  The discussions became public when presidential adviser David Axelrod told CNN that the focus is on expanding the “public safety exception that allows a delay in administering” Miranda rights. The question, Axelrod said, is “how elastic is that, and do we need to make any sort of adjustment to it?” According to White House officials, these discussions predated the failed car bombing in Times Square earlier this month. And government officials involved in the discussions say the debate is much broader than the public safety exception to Miranda warnings.

Mark told NPR he was not convinced any kind of change in Miranda was necessary and “it may, in fact, be a solution in search of a problem,” fearing cased could be lost if the Supreme Court overrules the government procedures.

Event Date
2010-05-11
Pub/Org
National Public Radio - NPR

U.S. failure to retaliate for USS Cole attack rankled then – and now

Micheal Isikoff wrote a story on how declassified documents reveled frustration regarding lack of response for the USS Cole attack, by both the Clinton and Bush administrations.  Mark told NBC that wishing weeks NCIS and FBI investigators had solid evidence the USS Cole attack was linked to both al-Qaida and to Osama bin Laden.

Event Date
2010-10-12
Pub/Org
NBC News
Link to Publication or Organization

INTERPOL urged to combat ‘radicalization process’

The Associated Press and Yahoo News announced the release of a study of violent extremists that Mark was the program manager of at the Qatar International Academy for Security Studies.  Mark noted that the interview of former detainees suggested that treatment behind bars was a factor in keeping them from rejoining extremist groups.  Mark said: “The fact they were treated with dignity and humanely was a positive influence on them once they are in custody and continued to be a positive influence years later.”  Mark recommended a more “holistic view” as countries evaluate their counterterrorism plans.

Event Date
2010-11-08
Pub/Org
Associated Press/Yahoo News

Radicalization and U.S. Muslims

Amid the debate over the threat posed by homegrown Islamic terrorism, CFR Associate Staff Writer Jonathan Masters interviewed Mark.  He told CFR “A more aware and educated police officer or agent, who understands and is trained in community-engagement strategies, can certainly go a long way in curbing violent extremism.” Mark pointed out that the Muslim American community is very engaged in trying to help law enforcement thwart terrorism and that tips from that community were the source of information that led to potential terrorist plots in forty-eight our of 120 cased studied.

Event Date
2011-05-11
Pub/Org
Council on Foreign Relations

Defusing the Bomb: Reversing the Process of Radicalization and Preventing Political Violence

The Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings hosted Mark and Micheal Gelles to address the challenges of fighting radicalization and explain the deradicalization and counterterrorism policies of five countries visited while conducting study of violent extremists.

Event Date
2012-04-12
Pub/Org
Brookings