Ex-CIA Agent Calls 'Zero Dark Thirty' an 'Infomercial' for Interrogation (Video)

Jonathan Olley/Columbia Pictures

Former CIA agent Lindsay Moran is questioning why the White House continues to cite national security in its withholding of photos of Osama bin Laden’s dead body -- even as Zero Dark Thirty chronicles in detail the hunt for the terrorist mastermind.

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“What I find ironic is the government claiming that this is classified information and would put Americans at risk at the very same time that two Hollywood filmmakers were given unprecedented access to the CIA -- basically made an infomercial about CIA interrogation,” Moran said during an appearance Friday on Current TV’s The Young Turks.

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“Zero Dark Thirty is an amazing movie, but very revealing about the entire hunt for Osama bin Laden,” she added. “It contains a lot of disturbing scenes of detainees being tortured.”

Moran went on to speculate that seeing Zero Dark Thirty would do more to radicalize potential terrorists than actual photos of bin Laden’s dead body.

Zero Dark Thirty, from Sony, director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal, has been controversial because of its depiction of CIA operatives torturing terror suspects, as well as accusations that the agency provided the filmmakers with classified documents to help them make the Oscar contender.

U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and John McCain   have called for an investigation into the filmmakers’ access to classified information, while   Martin Sheen and Ed Asner have appealed to fellow actors to protest the film because of its suggestion that torture helped lead the CIA to bin Laden.

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The actors followed the example of David Clennon, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who declared Wednesday he would not vote for the film in any of the five categories it has been nominated in. Meanwhile, Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal defended the film Friday, saying it does not advocate for the use of torture.

Zero Dark Thirty expanded nationwide Friday, where it came in No. 1 at the box office with $9 million. It is expected to bring in $25 million through the weekend.

Email: Aaron.Couch@thr.com

Twitter @AaronCouch