The CIA has admitted to using the interrogation technique known as waterboarding at least three times after the 9/11 attacks. CIA Director Michael Hayden made the admission in testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

CIA Director Michael Hayden: “Let me make it very clear and to state so officially in front of this committee that waterboarding has been used on only three detainees. It
was used on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. It was used on Abu Zubaydah. And it was used on Nashiri. The CIA has not used waterboarding for almost five years. We used it against these three high-value detainees because of the circumstances of the time. Very critical to those circumstances was the belief that additional catastrophic attacks against the homeland were imminent.”

Despite denying its recent use, Hayden went on to urge lawmakers not to outlaw waterboarding, because he said it might be needed in the future. The CIA admitted late last year to destroying videotapes capturing the interrogations of two of the prisoners that Hayden mentioned — Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. Hayden also claimed the CIA has practiced what he called “enhanced interrogation techniques” on one-third of the around 100 prisoners he says have been detained.