One of the CIA interrogators who used enhanced techniques on 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad says the work had to be done, no matter its unpleasantness, because of the nearly 3,000 innocent people killed in the attacks on New York City and Washington.
"The picture of that falling man flashed through my mind," James Mitchell, a former Navy psychologist, said in an interview with the Fox News Channel's Megyn Kelly.
The issue has surfaced because Senate Democrats issued a controversial report Dec. 9 charging the CIA used brutal interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists in violation of U.S. law and values. The report was released just as Senate Democrats concluded a lame-duck session ahead of relinquishing power to the Republicans.
The report has been blasted by insiders, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, who said it was "full of crap."
Cheney said the CIA's tactics – which reportedly included mock executions, beatings and sleep deprivation – helped the U.S. "catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11."
Mitchell, in the interview with Kelly, said he initially didn't want to be involved in such interrogations.
"The 9/11 victims are the reason that I'm here," he said. "When they first asked me if I would be willing to do this my initial though was, I don't want to do interrogations."
He said he knew there would be lifelong impacts if he participated.
But Mitchell recalled "the exact instant I decided to pony up to this." He said it was when he saw the image of a man falling from one of the Twin Towers after they were struck by terrorists.
He also pointed to the people on United Flight 93 who crashed the plane in a field in Pennsylvania to save the Capitol.
He then decided to give up the "high moral ground" to try to save lives.
Mitchell emphasized that people need to remember al-Qaida tried to decapitate the U.S.
"They hit our financial center, they hit our military leaders, they intended to take out our political leaders," he said.
See Part 1 of 5Â of the interview:
He suggested the release of the Senate Democrats' report was irresponsible.
"I'm proud of the work we did with the CIA," he said.
But he added no one from the Senate called him to ask about the interrogations.
"No one from the Senate committee ever asked me a single thing. If they think I've abused somebody, they should ask about it," he said. "Let me at least try to explain. [9/11 planner] Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has the opportunity to address the charges against him. I don't. That's why I'm angry."
He said the report endangered his life and the lives of others.
"We saved lives. I don't care what the Senate said," he said.
Part 2:
He said he was very aware that the tactics being used were offensive, and were being done to a human.
"Those techniques are so harsh that it's emotionally distressing to the people who are administering them," he said. "Even though you don't want to do it, you do it in order to save lives. We would just have to man up, for lack of a better term, and carry forward."
Part 3:
Mitchell said the report isn't the truth.
"It cherry picks, manipulates wording, frames the argument differently. It reads like a prosecutorial brief, rather than an effort to get to the truth," he charged.
He said, for example, he's painted in a very poor light. And at the same time there are numerous references in the report to concerns being raised.
"Look, I'm the person raising the concerns," he said. "But they're not identifying me."
Part 4:
He also said there's really no way to think slapping Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on the belly was the same as President Obama's drone program in which explosives are used for "blowing up a picnic and killing granny."
He said the goal should be to get people who have attacked the U.S. or intend to attack.
The Senate report, he said, puts a lot of Americans at risk.
"It shows al-Qaida, and al-Qaida 2.0, ISIL, that we're divided and we're easy targets. That we don't have the will to defeat them."
Part 5: