The C.I.A. has delete on speed dial

The late, great New Orleans pianist James Booker had it right when in his signature song, "My Papa Was a Rascal," he warned that "we've all got to watch out, watch out for the CIA."

In today's Times, we learn that important videotapes of al Qaeda interrogations was destroyed to protect the undercover operatives:

C.I.A. Destroyed 2 Tapes Showing Interrogations

By MARK MAZZETTI

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 — The Central Intelligence Agency in 2005 destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Qaeda operatives in the agency’s custody, a step it took in the midst of Congressional and legal scrutiny about its secret detention program, according to current and former government officials.

The videotapes showed agency operatives in 2002 subjecting terrorism suspects — including Abu Zubaydah, the first detainee in C.I.A. custody — to severe interrogation techniques. The tapes were destroyed in part because officers were concerned that video showing harsh interrogation methods could expose agency officials to legal risks, several officials said.

But by now they've erased enough cuts to put out a two-disc greatest hits album. When the tapes could prove useful to an investigation, they have a way of mysteriously getting disappeared. Take this wipe-out from the Nixon years:

January 30, 1974
C.I.A. Destruction of Tapes Reported

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 (AP)--William E. Colby, director of Central Intelligence, said tonight that the C.I.A. could find only one tape recording bearing on the Watergate affair and that it had destroyed all its other tapes from that period.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Colby said: "Senator [Howard] Baker asked us if there were any other tapes that bore on the subject. And we don't have any other on this subject at the moment. We had periodic destruction of our tapes."

Mr. Baker, the Tennessee Republican who is vice-chairman of the Senate Watergate Commission, confirmed in another telephone interview that he had requested any C.I.A. tapes bearing on Watergate...

Mr. Colby's comments followed a Columbia Broadcasting System report Tuesday night saying that the C.I.A. has destroyed numerous tape recordings considered vital to the Watergate investigation.

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