http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/wh-squirms-did-bush-interrogation-techniques-produce-useful-information
WH Squirms: Did Bush Interrogation Techniques Produce Useful Information? *December 9, 2014 - 6:54 AM * ------------------------------ *By Susan Jones <http://www.cnsnews.com/source/susan-jones>* *Subscribe to Susan Jones <http://www.cnsnews.com/source/72540/feed> RSS* *Follow Susan Jones <https://twitter.com/SJonesCNS> on Twitter* Share on Facebook Share on Twitter [image: Josh Earnest] <http://www.cnsnews.com/image/josh-earnest> White House spokesman Josh Earnest. (AP File Photo) (CNSNews.com) - White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Monday that President Obama "strongly supports" the release of a Senate intelligence committee report describing the Bush administration's harsh interrogation of terror suspects, even though the report may put Americans and U.S. facilities overseas in jeopardy. But did those interrogation techniques, including water-boarding, "produce any actual intelligence?" a reporter asked Earnest. "[E]ven if they did that, it wasn't worth it," Earnest finally said, after repeated questions. At first, Earnest ducked the question about whether the Bush-era techniques produced useful intelligence: "Well, the -- this is something that -- the President felt it was important for us -- for the American people, to have a clear, unvarnished look, or at least as clear a look as possible, into this classified program about what actually transpired. And that's why the President believes that the release of this report is so important. "I haven't read the report. It's unclear whether or not the committee has actually taken up the question that you are raising. But certainly, they'll have something important to say about it." The reporter tried again: "But what does the White House believe on that question, you know, did they produce actionable intelligence?" Earnest dodged again: "Well, as you pointed out, there are a variety of views across the federal government...about the effectiveness...What I will tell you is that the President believes that the use of those tactics was unwarranted, that they were inconsistent with our values and did not make us safer. That, of course, is a different question than the one that you're asking about... "Right," the reporter said. "Well, did they -- let me finish this," Earnest said. "Did they unearth useful national intelligence information?" "Right," the reporter repeated. "And I think the President would say, and this is clear from the President's decision to outlaw these techniques, that even if they did, that it wasn't worth it. And it did not enhance the national security of the United States of America." The reporter mentioned Osama bin Laden: "Were these techniques crucial to getting the intelligence that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden?" he asked. "Well, I -- these are, of course, complicated issues and they're worthy of discussion," Earnest said. "And you know, this is something that was talked about quite a bit in the days immediately following the successful raid against Osama bin Laden. These were issues that were raised and discussed extensively in conjunction with the release of "Zero Dark Thirty," I believe, a little over a year ago now. And there were a variety of views about whether or not information that was gleaned from enhanced interrogation techniques led to the eventual capture of Osama bin Laden." Earnest continued: "And what we have been clear about, and what the president has been clear about, is that he does not believe that the use of these enhanced interrogation techniques is justified. He does not believe that makes us safer. He does not believe that's in the core national security interest. "And so, the point is, you're asking a very difficult question. There are a variety of views on it. But wherever -- it's the president's view that wherever you come down on this equation of, yes, it yielded information that was helpful, yes, it yielded information that was crucial, or no, it didn't yield -- yield any helpful information, the president believes that, regardless of what the answer to that question is, that the use of these techniques was not worth it because of the harm that was done to our national values and the sense of what it is that we believe in as Americans." Earnest conceded that the CIA may have a different opinion on the usefulness of the information gleaned by the CIA interrogations, but -- "I think that the views of the commander in chief are the ones that are most important." Speaking on Tuesday, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate intelligence committee, said "there's no question" that "the overall program" of detaining and interrogating terror suspects did produce actionable intelligence. But King said <http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/sen-angus-king-overall-interrogation-program-worked-torture-didnt> the Democrats' report, which he voted to release, makes it clear in "excruciating detail" that the "torture" itself did not produce actionable intelligence. Ernest said security preparations "have been underway for months now" to prepare for the day when Senate Democrats released the report. __._,_.___ ------------------------------ Posted by: "beowulf" <[email protected]> ------------------------------ Visit Your Group <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmdmNydWl1BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0MTgxNDQ2NDA-> [image: Yahoo! Groups] <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJldHBqcGxyBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTQxODE0NDY0MA--> • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • Unsubscribe <[email protected]?subject=Unsubscribe> • Terms of Use <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> __,_._,___ -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
