# The bowl of dates

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The bowl of dates," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-bowl-of-dates/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The detail John Kiriakou uses to compress his argument about interrogation: that the intelligence the CIA's contractors reported as the fruit of waterboarding had in fact been obtained by an FBI agent who offered Abu Zubaydah a bowl of dates.*

- **Attributed to:** FBI Special Agent Ali Soufan
- **Subject:** Abu Zubaydah
- **Method:** Rapport building
- **Other courtesies Kiriakou lists:** A cup of tea, an orange, paper and a pen
- **Kiriakou's claim:** The CIA cables took credit for what Soufan obtained

The **bowl of dates** is a detail John Kiriakou returns to when explaining why he regards rapport-based interrogation as more productive than the CIA's enhanced techniques.

## The claim

Describing the cables sent back from the black sites by the contract psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, Kiriakou has said their reporting was clinical and dry, that the waterboarding technique had been employed and the prisoner had opened up and provided information. His response is that this did not happen: they drowned him, he had to be revived with CPR, and he then stopped talking for six months. The material reported in the cable, Kiriakou says, was taken from the FBI officer who had actually got him talking by offering him a bowl of dates. [1]

## Soufan's method

In other accounts Kiriakou names the officer as FBI Special Agent Ali Soufan and expands the list of courtesies. He describes Soufan as a master of interrogation who treated Abu Zubaydah with respect, gave him a cup of tea and an orange, and later a sheet of paper and a pen with which to write to his parents; who built rapport to the point that Abu Zubaydah trusted him and volunteered actionable intelligence. Kiriakou's summary is: *"That's the way to do it."* [2]

He adds a general concession about the FBI, that whatever else may be said of the bureau, interrogation is the one thing it is really good at. [2]

## The principle

Kiriakou has agreed with the proposition that psychological technique and relationship building get further and faster than physical torture, and that this is not a close call. [3] The counterpart he offers on the other side is his own most valued recruitment, in which an al-Qaeda member told him he had been the first person in five years to ask about his children. [4]

## See also

- [Ali Soufan](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ali-soufan)
- [Mitchell and Jessen](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/mitchell-and-jessen)
- [Abu Zubaydah](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/abu-zubaydah)
- [Curtailment cables](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/curtailment-cables)
- [Asked About My Children](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/asked-about-my-children)

## Sources

1. Episode 572 Blowing the Whistle with John Kiriakou (2021-09-25), at 49:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=audd3a7d0e6&t=2940s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-09-25-abe-lincoln-s-top-hat-episode-572-blowing-the-whistle-with-john-kir/
2. likely = ingested ev1ozulvly8 (2025-04-16), at 1:01:50. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B70zQHKcSxE&t=3710s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-04-16-the-dr-phil-podcast-likely-ingested-ev1ozulvly8/
3. likely = ingested ev1ozulvly8 (2025-04-16), at 1:02:20. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B70zQHKcSxE&t=3740s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-04-16-the-dr-phil-podcast-likely-ingested-ev1ozulvly8/
4. likely = ingested ev1ozulvly8 (2025-04-16), at 1:03:53. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B70zQHKcSxE&t=3833s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-04-16-the-dr-phil-podcast-likely-ingested-ev1ozulvly8/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-bowl-of-dates/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt