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John Kiriakou helped bring details of the CIA torture program to the public and was sent to prison for his troubles. Now, serving out the remainder of his sentence under house arrest, the former CIA operative has resumed his public opposition to the brutal program run by the his former employer under the Bush administration. (Image: Screenshot/MSNBC)

CIA Torture Whistleblower: US Government Lacks "the Guts" to Face Its Crimes

John Kiriakou's advice to future national security whistleblowers: 'Get a lawyer first.'

Jon Queally

Out of prison and living at home under house arrest for the remainder of a suspended prison sentence, former CIA operative John Kiriakou, convicted and sent to jail for blowing the whistle on agency torture under the Bush administration, has been speaking to major medi outlets this week about the brutal tactics and depraved abuse administered by the U.S. government in the name fighting terrorism as well as his prosecution and conviction under the Espionage Act for speaking out against such crimes.

In a two-part interview aired over as many nights this week, Kiriakou spoke with MSNBC's Chris Hayes at length about his case and its implications on national security, the ongoing and so-called 'war on terror,' and what it means to be a government whistleblower in the post-9/11 age.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Earlier this week, Kiriakou had a conversation, via Skype, with HuffPost Live anchor Alyona Minkovski during which he said that though the government has been very willing to target CIA whistleblowers like himself and the more recently-convicted Jeffrey Sterling who expose government ineptitude or criminality, the Obama adminstration has prove totally cowardly when it comes to prosecuting those who committed war crimes or authorized tortured.

"I don't think our government, no matter who is president, would ever have the guts to charge someone at the level of a Dick Cheney or of a CIA director ... with crimes against humanity," Kiriakou told Minkovski.

Watch the entire HuffPost Live interview:

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