Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Just months after the 9/11 attacks , the United States appeared to have its biggest catch in the newly launched war on terror . Abu Zubaydah , considered one of al Qaeda 's senior lieutenants , lay in a pool of blood on a street in Faisalabad , Pakistan , having been shot three times during a U.S.-coordinated raid on a house where a group of suspected terrorists was building a bomb . CIA operative John Kiriakou , who helped plan the raid , rushed to the scene . But when he gazed down at the critically wounded man , it did n't quite look like the person he had seen in a 4-year-old passport . In his new book , `` The Reluctant Spy , '' Kiriakou gives an insider 's view of his secret life as a spy and his role in fighting the war on terror . Kiriakou said he was able to quickly verify Zubaydah 's identity by sending a picture of his ear to CIA headquarters in Virginia . `` I did n't realize until that night that no two people have the same ears . It 's like a fingerprint , '' he said . The American spy was ordered by then-CIA Director George Tenet to do everything in his power to keep Zubaydah alive and to never let him out of his sight . That 's exactly what Kiriakou did . Rushed to a rundown Pakistani hospital , Zubaydah barely made it through surgery . Word had apparently gotten out to al Qaeda where he was being treated . `` Al Qaeda people started driving by the hospital just opening fire on the hospital , '' Kiriakou said , and a Pakistani security officer quickly arranged for a helicopter to transfer Zubaydah to a military base . Once on the base , Kiriakou used a sheet to tie the comatose Zubaydah to his bed and then stood watch . When Zubaydah finally woke up , Kiriakou tried to speak with him in Arabic . Zubaydah refused , telling him in perfect English that he would not talk in what he called `` God 's language . '' Strangely enough , Kiriakou said , Zubaydah then asked for a glass of red wine . After a few hours of sleep , the prisoner pleaded for Kiriakou to kill him -- to smother him with a pillow . After a couple of days , Zubaydah was transferred to an undisclosed location for further treatment . That was the last time Kiriakou saw him . Kiriakou said his conversations with Zubaydah were surprising . `` I expected an irrational , radical , hate-filled , hard-core terrorist , and what I got was a frightened young guy who realized he was in way over his head , had made terrible mistakes and was going to pay for it . '' Kiriakou also tells the story of Zubaydah 's cell phone ringing shortly after his capture . No one could answer it because FBI agents who took part in the raid had placed the phone in a sealed evidence bag and would n't open it . Kiriakou said a valuable lead may have been lost . `` I should have opened the bag and snatched the phone , '' the former CIA operative said . Iraq played a prominent role in Kiriakou 's CIA career , most notably his role in supporting the U.S. policy to go to war . In summer 2002 , Kiriakou was back working at headquarters in Virginia when he was summoned to a top-secret meeting . He said he was told the Bush administration had decided the United States was going to invade Iraq in the spring -- it was a done deal . His job was to support the mission . Kiriakou said he was dumbfounded . `` Here was someone at the CIA , obviously plugged into the plans of the executive branch , telling us that the public debate in Congress , reflected almost daily in the press , meant nothing . '' Months later , Congress passed a war resolution . The book is filled with many more stories about Kiriakou 's experiences as a spy , including how he tried to avoid surveillance in Greece and discovered he was being tailed , what it was like being in charge of foreign agents , and the fear of a pending terrorist attack just before September 11 , 2001 . Kiriakou also discussed the CIA 's use of harsh interrogation techniques on detainees . In 2007 , several years after he left the agency , Kiriakou was the first official to publicly confirm Washington 's worst-kept secret : that Zubaydah had been waterboarded . He did n't have firsthand knowledge , but he said he had read cables that indicated the simulated drowning technique was used just once , because Zubaydah cracked and provided actionable intelligence . However , a government report released in summer 2009 said the technique was actually used 83 times against Zubaydah . Kiriakou said he now feels he was duped by the agency . He questioned whether any useful information really came from the detainee and said he believes `` it caused more damage to our national prestige than was worth it . '' Kiriakou left the CIA in 2004 after serving 14 years in the agency . He 's now a senior investigator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee .