Biography: Who is John Kiriakou?
John Kiriakou was born on August 2, 1964, in Sharon, Pennsylvania. He joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1990 and built his career in counterterrorism, working in a profession defined by secrecy, discipline, and obedience to chain of command.
After the September 11 attacks, Kiriakou was assigned to overseas counterterrorism operations. In March 2002, he led the operation that captured Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan, one of the first high-value detainees taken into U.S. custody after 9/11. Inside the agency, the capture was treated as a major success at a moment of national urgency.
In the weeks that followed, Abu Zubaydah was transferred into CIA custody. As interrogation plans were developed, Kiriakou was asked whether he wanted to be trained for or take part in the questioning program. He refused. He believed the techniques being proposed amounted to torture and chose not to participate.
After leaving government service, Kiriakou spoke publicly about what he had learned. In 2007, he confirmed that the CIA had used waterboarding and stated plainly that he regarded the practice as torture. It was the first time a former CIA officer publicly acknowledged the technique. His decision broke years of official denial and forced a national reckoning over interrogation practices carried out in the name of security.
Kiriakou paid a heavy price for speaking out. He became the only CIA officer to serve prison time connected to the interrogation program — not for committing abuse, but for exposing it. The architects and practitioners of waterboarding were never prosecuted.
Since then, Kiriakou has remained outspoken, writing and speaking about intelligence policy, civil liberties, and the treatment of whistleblowers. His refusal to participate in torture, and his decision to tell the truth about its use, define his public legacy.
He acted when silence would have been easier. In doing so, he placed conscience above career, and accountability above protection. In the modern history of American intelligence, John Kiriakou stands as a rare example of someone who spoke openly about wrongdoing — and accepted the consequences.
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