Former VP Cheney and CIA Directors Hit Back Against Torture Report

Top spies past and present campaigned Wednesday to discredit the Senate’s investigation into the CIA’s harrowing torture practices after 9/11, battling to define the historical record and deter potential legal action around the world.

The Senate intelligence committee’s report doesn’t urge prosecution for wrongdoing, and the Justice Department has no interest in reopening a criminal probe. But the threat to former interrogators and their superiors was underlined as a U.N. special investigator demanded those responsible for “systematic crimes” be brought to justice, and human rights groups pushed for the arrest of key CIA and Bush administration figures if they travel overseas.

Current and former CIA officials pushed back, determined to paint the Senate report as a political stunt by Senate Democrats tarnishing a program that saved American lives. It is a “one-sided study marred by errors of fact and interpretation, essentially a poorly done and partisan attack on the agency that has done the most to protect America,” former CIA directors George Tenet, Porter Goss and Michael Hayden wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

Hayden was singled out by Senate investigators for what they said was a string of misleading or outright false statements he gave in 2007 about the importance of the CIA’s brutal treatment of detainees in thwarting terrorist attacks. He described the focus on him as “ironic on so many levels” as any wrongdoing predated his arrival at the CIA. “They were far too interested in yelling at me,” Hayden said in an email.

The intelligence committee’s 500-page release concluded that the CIA inflicted suffering on al-Qaeda prisoners beyond its legal authority and that none of the agency’s “enhanced interrogations” provided critical, life-saving intelligence. It cited the CIA’s own records, documenting in detail how waterboarding and lesser-known techniques such as “rectal feeding” were actually employed.

The CIA is now in the uncomfortable position of defending itself publicly, given its basic mission to protect the country secretly. Its 136-page rebuttal suggests Senate Democrats searched through millions of documents to pull out only the evidence backing up pre-determined conclusions. “That’s like doing a crossword puzzle on Tuesday with Wednesday’s answer’s key,” the CIA said in an emailed statement.

Challenging one of the report’s most explosive arguments that harsh interrogation techniques didn’t lead to Osama bin Laden, the CIA pointed to questioning of Ammar al-Baluchi, who revealed how an al-Qaeda operative relayed messages to and from bin Laden after he departed Afghanistan. Before then, the CIA said, it only knew that courier Abu Ahmad al-Kuwaiti interacted with bin Laden in 2001 when the al-Qaeda leader was accessible to many of his followers. Al-Kuwaiti eventually led the U.S. to bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan.

Poring over the same body of evidence as the investigators, the CIA insisted most of the 20 case studies cited in the Senate report actually illustrated how enhanced interrogations helped disrupt plots, capture terrorists and prevent another 9/11-type attack. The agency said it obtained legal authority for its actions from the Justice Department and White House, and made “good faith” efforts to keep congressional leaders informed.

Former CIA officials responsible for the program echoed these points in interviews.

John McLaughlin, then deputy CIA director, said waterboarding and other tactics transformed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed into a U.S. “consultant” on al-Qaeda.

Tenet, the director on Sept. 11, 2001, said the interrogation program “saved thousands of Americans lives” while the country faced a “ticking time bomb every day.”

Former Vice President Dick Cheney also pushed back, saying in a Fox News interview that the Senate report “is full of crap.”

In no uncertain terms, Cheney said the CIA’s approach to interrogating terror suspects was necessary after the 9/11 attacks, and the people who carried them out were doing their duty.

“We asked the agency to go take steps and put in place programs that were designed to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it didn’t happen again, and that’s exactly what they did, and they deserve a lot of credit,” he said, “not the condemnation they are receiving from the Senate Democrats. “

Cheney said after the capture of Mohammed, it was essential to find out what he knew.

“He is in our possession we know he is the architect what are we supposed to do?” Cheney said. “Kiss him on both cheeks and say please, please tell us what you know?”

Former top CIA officials published a website – http://ciasavedlives.com – pointing out decade-old statements from Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Jay Rockefeller in apparent support of agency efforts. The two Democrats spearheaded the Senate investigation.

The intelligence committee’s Republicans issued their own 167-page “minority” report and said the Democratic analysis was flawed, dishonest and, at $40 million, a waste of taxpayer money. Feinstein’s office said Wednesday most of the cost was incurred by the CIA in trying to hide its record.

If the sides agreed on one thing, it was the CIA suffered from significant mismanagement problems early on. The agency and its Republican supporters said those failings were corrected.

“We have learned from these mistakes,” current CIA Director John Brennan said.

President George W. Bush approved the program through a covert finding in 2002 but wasn’t briefed by the CIA on the details until 2006.

Obama banned harsh interrogation tactics upon taking office, calling the treatment “torture.” But he has shown little interest in holding accountable anyone involved, a sore point among human rights groups and his supporters on the left.

Lawyers representing former CIA detainees have introduced cases in Europe and Canada, though to little success thus far. Undeclared prisons existed in Poland, Romania and Lithuania, among countries.

Twenty-six Americans, mostly CIA agents, were convicted in absentia in Italy of kidnapping a Muslim cleric in Milan in 2003, limiting their ability to travel for fear of extradition. The former CIA base chief in Italy was briefly detained in Panama last year before being returned to the U.S.

The potential prosecution of CIA officials explains somewhat the agency’s aggressive response. For months, it reviewed the Senate report to black out names or information that might allow foreign governments, investigating magistrates and human rights lawyers to identify individuals. It demanded the elimination of pseudonyms in part so foreign courts wouldn’t be able to connect evidence to a single individual.

“I’m concerned,” said John Rizzo, former CIA general counsel who is frequently mentioned in the report. He said he may think twice about traveling to Europe, noting, “For better or worse now, I’m a high-profile, notorious public figure.”

 

US Senate releases contentious CIA torture report

A Democrat-led Senate panel released a scathing report Tuesday on CIA interrogation practices amid warnings from lawmakers that the findings could “endanger the lives of Americans,” a concern the Obama administration apparently shared as it put more than 6,000 Marines on high alert.

The report, from the Senate Intelligence Committee, claimed the interrogation techniques used were “brutal and far worse” than the CIA represented to lawmakers. Further, the report claimed the tactics were not effective and the spy agency gave “inaccurate” information about it to Congress and the White House. The report called CIA management of the program “deeply flawed,”  though agency officials have staunchly defended the program and credited it with helping track down Osama bin Laden and other terror leaders.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the head of the intelligence panel who ordered the release of the report, alleged on the Senate floor on Tuesday that the CIA techniques in some cases amounted to “torture.”

“History will judge us by our commitment to a just society governed by law and the willingness to face an ugly truth and say ‘never again’,” she said on the floor. “There may never be the right time to release this report. … But this report is too important to shelve indefinitely.”

The White House and President Obama backed the decision to release the report, despite warnings from lawmakers and some inside the administration that it could lead to a backlash against Americans. More than 6,000 U.S. Marines overseas have been put on “high alert” over the report’s release.

Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, called the move a “partisan effort” by Democrats on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. They said the report is not “serious or constructive” and “could endanger the lives of Americans overseas.”

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., the top Republican on the intelligence committee, slammed the release in a joint statement on Tuesday.

“As we have both stated before, we are opposed to this study and believe it will present serious consequences for U.S. national security,” they said. “Regardless of what one’s opinions may be on these issues, the study by Senate Democrats is an ideologically motivated and distorted recounting of historical events. The fact that the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation program developed significant intelligence that helped us identify and capture important al-Qaeda terrorists, disrupt their ongoing plotting, and take down Osama Bin Ladin is incontrovertible. Claims included in this report that assert the contrary are simply wrong.”

The roughly 500-page report, a summary of a still-classified 6,000 page study, amounts to the fullest public accounting from Congress at least from Democrats of the CIA’s alleged use of torture on suspected Al Qaeda detainees held in secret facilities in Europe and Asia in the years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Obama said the Senate report documents a “troubling program” and pledged to make sure “we never resort to those methods again.”

He said in a statement: “We will rely on all elements of our national power, including the power and example of our founding ideals. That is why I have consistently supported the declassification of today’s report. No nation is perfect. But one of the strengths that makes America exceptional is our willingness to openly confront our past, face our imperfections, make changes and do better.”

The CIA, in a statement responding to the report, acknowledged the agency made “mistakes” with its detention and interrogation program but disputed claims that the interrogations were not effective.

“Our review indicates that interrogations of detainees on whom enhanced interrogation techniques were used did produce intelligence that helped thwart attack plans, capture terrorists, and save lives,” the agency said, also disputing that the agency intentionally misled lawmakers and other officials on the program.

CIA officials said that the interrogation program produced valuable and actionable intelligence. They specifically cite the identification of the courier who led to bin Laden and his compound in Pakistan. CIA officials say the courier’s name was first revealed by Amar al-Baluchi while in the CIA interrogation program, though he was not subjected to waterboarding.

When detainee Hasan Gul was subjected to the enhanced interrogation program, he is said to have provided specific information about the courier  after initially giving “confusing signals” about the individual.

After 9/11, CIA officials say the program provided the “bedrock” understanding of Al Qaeda network and it is still being drawn on today. One former CIA officer told said that once accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s will was broken, he generated more than 2,000 intelligence reports. In addition, former CIA officers from the program said they believe the Senate report seeks to minimize intelligence that led the U.S. to bin Laden’s courier.

Another former officer said that the CIA was encouraged by lawmakers “to do whatever it takes” to prevent another attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001. The former officer said that Hill leadership was briefed more than three dozen times before the program was shuttered.

According to the report, the CIA tactics included weeks of sleep deprivation, slapping and slamming of detainees against walls, confining them to small boxes, keeping them isolated for prolonged periods and threatening them with death. Three detainees faced the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding.

The report detailed sleep deprivation that involved keeping detainees awake for up to 180 hours, “usually standing or in stress positions.” It claimed many detainees provided “fabricated information, resulting in faulty intelligence” as a result of these methods.

President George W. Bush approved the program through a covert finding in 2002, but he wasn’t briefed by the CIA about the details until 2006. George Tenet, CIA director when the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks occurred, said the program saved “thousands of American lives.”

After Al Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah was arrested in Pakistan, the CIA received permission to use waterboarding, sleep deprivation, close confinement and other techniques. Agency officials added unauthorized methods into the mix, the report says.

At least five men in CIA detention received “rectal rehydration,” a form of feeding through the rectum. Others received “ice baths” and death threats. At least three in captivity were told their families would suffer, with CIA officers threatening to harm their children, sexually abuse the mother of one man, and cut the throat of another man’s mother.

Zubaydah was held in a secret facility in Thailand, called “detention Site Green” in the report. Early on, with CIA officials believing he had information on an imminent plot, Zubaydah was left isolated for 47 days without questioning, the report says. He wasn’t alone. In September 2002, at a facility referred to as COBALT understood as the CIA’s “Salt Pit” in Afghanistan, detainees were kept isolated and in darkness. Their cells reportedly had only a bucket for human waste.

The White House on Monday reiterated its support for the report’s release, despite the warnings it could provoke violence. Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the administration has been preparing “for months” for the report’s release.

However, Secretary of State John Kerry last week asked the Senate Intelligence Committee to “consider” the timing of the release.

The administration’s stance was criticized by GOP Sen. Richard Burr, the prospective new chairman of the Senate intelligence committee. Burr, R-N.C., said that Kerry’s suggestion that the report be delayed didn’t jibe with Earnest’s comments.

“It’s dumbfounding they can call and ask for it to be delayed and then say they want it out. You can’t have it both ways,” Burr said.

U.S. officials have confirmed that an advisory has been sent urging U.S. personnel overseas to reassess security measures in anticipation of the release. The message directs all overseas posts, including those used by CIA personnel, to “review their security posture” for a “range of reactions that might occur.”

A similar statement was being sent to military combatant commands to assess their readiness. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Tuesday he’s ordered all combatant commanders to be on “high alert.”

U.S. Embassies Braced For Violence Ahead of Senate Report Release

U.S. embassies around the world are bracing for a potentially explosive report about to be released that details what the CIA did to terror suspects in the days after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and the fear is that its release could threaten American lives.

The report, due to be released Tuesday by the Senate, is described as shocking in its very graphic descriptions of secret interrogations, including some details that have never been heard before.

All U.S. facilities around the world are being urged to review security and brace for the reaction, with concern particularly high in areas where there are hot spots, in the Middle East and North Africa.

The CIA and the Bush administration have already faced heavy criticism for post 9/11 interrogation techniques at so-called “black sites” across the world.

The use of waterboarding stopped many years ago, but, according to those who have seen this report, ugly new details about those procedures will be revealed, where prisoners were sexually demeaned, and CIA interrogators were urged to continue, even after concluding that no more information could be gleaned.

The Muslim world has erupted many times before when the U.S. and the West have been accused of religious and cultural slights. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said that if this report is released, groups like ISIS will take full advantage.

House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said in an interview that the report would provide ISIS and other terror organizations a public relations bonanza.

“They don’t have to be accurate or right. They just have to believe it’s true and they will take advantage of that,” Rogers said. “We know that ISIL propaganda operations will this is the motherload for them.”

Rogers said that there is credible warning that release of the report will endanger Americans around the world.

“You have foreign leaders saying this report in its current form will incite violence,” he said. “You have liaison partners in the intelligence community saying this will incite violence. This will in fact incite violence and it’s likely to cost someone their life.”

He said he thinks the release of the report should at least be delayed.

“I am hoping that there is a change of heart between now and Tuesday to at least suspend the report,” he said.

Obama administration officials have said they favor making the report public, but on Friday Secretary of State John Kerry asked Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to consider the timing of the release.

 

Obama Criticized By Both Sides Over His Lack Of Response and Urgency On ISIS

After President Barack Obama said he didn’t yet have a strategy for ISIS in Syria, even a Democrat on Sunday criticized the President’s approach to fighting the extremist terror group.

There’s been the expected GOP criticism: Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, said the President’s statement was “unfortunate,” a predictable assessment from someone who disagrees with the Obama’s handling of foreign policy.

But more notable is Sen., the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, who split with the leader of her party.

“I think I’ve learned one thing about this President and that is he’s very cautious. Maybe in this instance, too cautious,” the California Democrat said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Feinstein’s description comes as the Obama administration is implementing a split strategy in dealing with the group now calling itself the Islamic State.

In Iraq, where America recently concluded a long war there, the United States has continued airstrikes against ISIS, including strikes near Amerli. In Syria, meanwhile, the President has been reluctant to pursue military action as a complicated web of factions, including ISIS, is fighting to defeat President Bashar al-Assad, also a U.S. opponent.

While members of both parties indicated that Syria is the most dangerous country in the world right now as it is considered ISIS’ home base, Republicans differed from Democrats in that they insisted that the threat ISIS poses to the U.S. is immediate. “I believe strongly that ISIS does plan on attacking the United States,” Rep. Peter King said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Sen. John McCain went even further on CBS News’ “Face the Nation”: “I think it starts with an understanding that this is a direct threat to the United States of America, that it may be one of the biggest we have ever faced.”

The top Republicans’ statements come just days after British Prime Minister David Cameron elevated the terror threat to “Severe,” the second-highest rating for that country.

But the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, played down the immediacy of a direct attack in the United States on CNN’s “State of the Union,” saying strong intelligence “at this point” of an imminent attack on the U.S. does not exist.

Another Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, acknowledged the threat ISIS poses is real, but it’s “a bit of an overstatement” to compare the threat of ISIS to al Qaeda.

“There is no evidence at this point that they are actually doing the sort of command-and-control plotting, planning specific attacks against Western targets, like al Qaeda was, gosh, for better — for almost a decade before 9/11,” he said on “Face the Nation.”

Kinzinger used a cancer analogy describing ISIS, expanding upon an opnion piece written by Secretary of State John Kerry in The New York Times Friday when he said “the cancer of ISIS will not be allowed to spread to other countries.”

“If you have cancer in your liver, and it’s spreading to other parts of your body, you don’t just treat the other parts, you treat the liver,” the Iraq War veteran said on CNN’s “State the Union.” “The liver is Syria.”

While the President has been taking heat for saying he doesn’t have a strategy for ISIS, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee discussed the challenges in formulating a strategy, in part, because obtaining intelligence about ISIS from war-torn Syria has been difficult.

“We have got to get the intelligence,” Ruppersberger said.

Smith echoed his colleague’s sentiment.

“We can’t simply bomb first and ask questions later. We have to have the right targets and the right support in order to be effective in stopping ISIS,” he said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

Most Republicans, including McCain, are urging immediate airstrikes in Syria, the place where the terrorist group gained traction with its brutal tactics and mostly erasing the border between the Syria and Iraq.

The Arizona Republican joined Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who opened the door last week to putting more U.S. troops in Iraq. McCain said that a comprehensive strategy to defeating ISIS “is going to require some more special forces.”

Ruppersberger was among the Democrats who urged a broad strategic plan that leaves the door open for a variety of actions, which is the message put out by the Obama administration over the past two days, including in Kerry’s opinion piece.

“If we need to go … to protect ourselves from ISIS, we will, but it’s got to be a coalition,” Ruppersberger said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Democrats insisted that building an international coalition in the region and beyond is the first step.

“We have to build that coalition,” Smith said. “We need reliable partners to work with in the region.”

But Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, the Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee, said the President should have been building that coalition for the past year.

“It’s just very, very late in the game and it presents fewer options,” Rogers said on “Fox News Sunday.”