James Mitchell, the psychologist and so-called “architect” behind the extreme interrogation techniques once employed by the CIA, is serving as somewhat of a villain for critics who say the U.S. treated suspected terrorists improperly. Fox News attempted to amend that on Monday’s edition of “The Kelly File.”
Mitchell granted Fox his first TV interview since a report by the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee majority staff was made public detailing the sometimes intense techniques used by the intelligence agency to get information from suspected terrorists in the months immediately following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Before the interview, several media reports noted that Mitchell and his company were paid millions to advise on and perform some of the interrogations.
In a shrewd move, Fox aired footage from Sept. 11 during the interview with Mitchell, showing scores of Americans running and covered in debris from the fallen World Trade Center buildings.
Mitchell has defended his involvement with the controversial interrogation methods — described by many Democrats and Sen. John McCain, R-Az., as “torture” — by citing the widespread fear that another catastrophic attack like Sept. 11 was imminent and the determination in the government to prevent it if possible.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who defends the program as well, has made similar comments. In an interview Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Cheney said, “Torture is what the al Qaeda terrorists did to 3,000 Americans on 9/11.”
By airing footage from Sept. 11 during the Mitchell interview, Fox called to mind the atmosphere in the U.S. after the attacks, which was mostly one of fear, anxiety and a whatever-it-takes determination in preventing another incident.
