A former CIA agent's astonishing letter

A lot has happened to former CIA analyst John Kiriakou since his last mention in these pages, back in 2007. Kiriakou, who left the Agency in 2004, had led the raid to capture Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan, and later confirmed that Zubaydah had been water-boarded -- although Kiriakou was under the impression that the technique had been applied only once. (The real number: 83 times.)

Later still, Kiriakou came out in favor of Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning, and published an open letter warning Snowden not to believe anything he heard from the FBI. This gesture seems to have switched the administration into revenge mode.

Kiriakou was charged with violating the Espionage Act and the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, which was originally devised to criminalize the whistleblowing of Philip Agee. I'll let him describe what happened:

Two of my espionage charges were the result of a conversation I had with a New York Times reporter about torture. I gave him no classified information – only the business card of a former CIA colleague who had never been undercover. The other espionage charge was for giving the same unclassified business card to a reporter for ABC News. All three espionage charges were eventually dropped.

So, why charge me in the first place?

It was my punishment for blowing the whistle on the CIA's torture program and for confirming to the press, despite government protestations to the contrary, that the US government was, indeed, in the business of torture.

The espionage charges were tossed out. He pleaded guilty to violating the Identities Protection Act because a trial would have forced the journalists involved to testify. Last year, Kiriakou was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

During his stay, he has sent a series of remarkable letters to his followers. The latest one is definitely worth reading. I assure you: It's not what you expect -- and it's not the slightest bit dull.

I simply cannot believe that this is going on in a taxpayer-funded institution...

Loretto's "Education" Department scheduled a prisoner-led class last fall called "Quantum Physics." Nobody bothered to check whether the prisoner-teacher was qualified to teach a course on quantum physics, nor did anyone ever request a lesson plan. As it turned out, the gay prisoner-teacher's only degree was from the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Clown College. The course had nothing to do with quantum physics. It was a self-help pity party for pedophiles, and it sought to help them expand their rationale of denial, with the theme from "Rocky" playing in the background all the while. The teacher began the course by chanting "We're homos and we're chomos! We're homos and we're chomos!" ("Chomo" is short for "child molester.") One African-American prisoner, who expected to learn something about quantum physics, got up, shouted "This is fucked up!" and walked out. Otherwise, it was a very popular class among a certain demographic. I'm not kidding.

Even more worrisome is the situation with pedophiles in general. Despite a recent Congressional Research Service report to the contrary, there is no treatment whatsoever for pedophiles and child molesters. Nothing. Indeed, these perverts find a welcoming community of like-minded offenders in prison, like we saw in the quantum physics class. They also trade pictures of children that they cut out of the Toys R Us catalogue or Parenting Magazine, photos of young-looking `8 year-olds in G strings that they buy from mail-order houses that cater to sex offenders in prison, and even pictures of other inmates' children, stolen, of course.

Pedophiles move in packs in prison. They sit together in the cafeteria, they take prisoner-led classes together, they watch movies together, and they congregate in large groups in the library and the chapel, all protesting their innocence and complaining that they're misunderstood.

My friend, cellmate and former colleague "Dave" and I took a prisoner-led Introductory Spanish course a few months ago. We quit after three sessions because the class was nothing more than a coffee clatch for pedophiles. After one asked "How do you say in Spanish, 'Do you want some candy?'" we walked out and never went back.

The Bureau of Prisons doesn't do anything to dissuade pedophiles. Indeed, in an event right out of the Twilight Zone, the warden sent a memo to all inmates saying "Please join FCI Loretto and the Bureau of Prisons as we celebrate the United Nations' Universal Children's Day. The memo announcing "Happy Children's Day!" said "Our Children's Day celebration will be held on the weekend of November 30-December 1, 2013. Materials will be available for each family with visiting children ages three to ten." I attach a copy of the Children's Day flyer in case you can't believe something like this could actually happen.

So we have a facility where pedophiles and pederasts are warehoused, where they get no therapy or medication for their perversion, where they spend all of their time together exchanging tricks of the trade, and where the warden gives them advance warning of a children's even so they can schedule their own visits and be in the presence of young children from 8:30 am to 2:15 pm over two days. You may recall from my third letter from Loretto that a prison guard had to move my entire family during a visit because a pederast attorney from Philadelphia was leering at my 9 year-old son. I'll say it again: If pedophiles must stay more than 1000 feet from a school on the outside, why are they allowed within three feet of my children in the visitor's room?

It goes on like that. Truly evil stuff.

I had been under the impression that child molesters had the worst time of it in prison. In Loretto, they seem to be running the show!

Loretto is a minimum security prison which many within the prison system consider "easy time" -- still, you don't expect the pedophiles to have it this easy. I can't help but wonder about the people running that institution. Did they intend this outcome?

(If this letter becomes well-known, pedophiles may start using the phrase "quantum physics" as a code word. Example: "I found a great secret website where you can download all sorts of really awesome quantum physics!")