See that, McCain can be right once in a while!!! On Tue, Dec 9, 2014 at 2:38 PM, plainolamerican <[email protected]> wrote:
> Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) spoke about the newly released CIA Torture > Report > <http://www.businessinsider.com/the-senate-is-about-to-release-the-cia-torture-report-2014-12> > on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon, decrying the use of harsh > interrogation methods against detainees. > > In light of reports about the CIA torturing detainees under a > counterterrorism program authorized by President George W. Bush in the wake > of the September 11th attacks in 2001, McCain noted that "even our enemies > possess basic human rights." > > "I have often said ... that this question isn’t about our enemies, it’s > about us," McCain said. "It’s about who we were, who we are, and who we > aspire to be." > > "Our enemies act without conscience," he said. "We must not." > > McCain continued: "We need not risk our national honor to prevail in this > or any war." > > Torture programs described in the report included "rectal feeding," > <https://twitter.com/charlie_savage/status/542354330469543936> sleep > deprivation, and mock executions. The report also said the CIA engaged in > efforts to manipulate media coverage of the torture program. > > The CIA later misled the public about how effective the interrogation > methods were. > > "Torture produces [provided] more misleading information than actionable > intelligence," McCain said. > > He said the CIA interrogations "stained our national honor." > > Read more: > http://www.businessinsider.com/john-mccain-statement-on-cia-torture-report-2014-12#ixzz3LQnQk9Gc > > > On Tuesday, December 9, 2014 1:01:01 PM UTC-6, Travis wrote: >> >> >> >> >> Just being around Democrats is torture. >> >> >> >> Surprise, surprise. >> >> >> >> B >> >> >> >> >> >> http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/10/world/senate- >> intelligence-committee-cia-torture-report.html?emc=edit_ >> na_20141209&nlid=23627335&_r=0 >> Senate Torture Report Condemns C.I.A. Interrogation Program >> >> Photo >> >> A satellite image of a prison in Afghanistan known as the Salt Pit. The >> C.I.A. said the prison never used waterboarding, but the Senate >> Intelligence Committee obtained a photograph of a waterboard there >> surrounded by buckets of water. >> >> Credit Space Imaging, via Getty Images >> >> WASHINGTON — A scathing report released by the Senate Intelligence >> Committee on Tuesday found that the Central Intelligence Agency >> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/central_intelligence_agency/index.html?inline=nyt-org> >> routinely misled the White House and Congress about the information it >> obtained from the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects, and >> that its methods were more brutal than the C.I.A. acknowledged either to >> Bush administration officials or to the public. >> >> The long-delayed report, which took five years to produce and is based on >> more than six million internal agency documents, is a sweeping indictment >> of the C.I.A.'s operation and oversight of a program carried out by agency >> officials and contractors in secret prisons around the world in the years >> after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It also provides a macabre >> accounting of some of the grisliest techniques that the C.I.A. used to >> torture and imprison terrorism suspects. >> >> Detainees were deprived of sleep for as long as a week, and were >> sometimes told that they would be killed while in American custody. With >> the approval of the C.I.A.'s medical staff, some C.I.A. prisoners were >> subjected to medically unnecessary “rectal feeding” or “rectal hydration” — >> a technique that the C.I.A.'s chief of interrogations described as a way to >> exert “total control over the detainee.” C.I.A. medical staff members >> described the waterboarding of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the chief planner of >> the Sept. 11 attacks, as a “series of near drownings.” >> >> The report also suggests that more prisoners were subjected to >> waterboarding than the three the C.I.A. has acknowledged in the past. The >> committee obtained a photograph of a waterboard surrounded by buckets of >> water at the prison in Afghanistan commonly known as the Salt Pit — a >> facility where the C.I.A. had claimed that waterboarding was never used. >> One clandestine officer described the prison as a “dungeon,” and another >> said that some prisoners there “literally looked like a dog that had been >> kenneled.” >> >> During his administration, President George W. Bush repeatedly said that >> the detention and interrogation program, which President Obama dismantled >> when he succeeded him, was humane and legal. The intelligence gleaned >> during interrogations, he said, was instrumental both in thwarting >> terrorism plots and in capturing senior figures of Al Qaeda. >> >> Mr. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney and a number of former C.I.A. >> officials have said more recently that the program was essential for >> ultimately finding Osama bin Laden, who was killed by members of the Navy >> SEALs in May 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan. >> >> The Intelligence Committee’s report tries to refute each of these claims, >> using the C.I.A.'s internal records to present 20 case studies that bolster >> its conclusion that the most extreme interrogation methods played no role >> in disrupting terrorism plots, capturing terrorist leaders — even finding >> Bin Laden. >> >> The report said that senior officials — including the former C.I.A. >> directors George J. Tenet, Porter J. Goss and Michael V. Hayden — >> repeatedly inflated the value of the program in secret briefings both at >> the White House and on Capitol Hill, and in public speeches. >> >> In the report’s foreword, Senator Dianne Feinstein >> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/dianne_feinstein/index.html?inline=nyt-per> >> of California, the chairwoman of the Intelligence Committee, said that she >> “could understand the C.I.A.'s impulse to consider the use of every >> possible tool to gather intelligence and remove terrorists from the >> battlefield, and C.I.A. was encouraged by political leaders and the public >> to do whatever it could to prevent another attack.” >> >> Continue reading the main story >> <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/cia-torture-report-key-points.html> >> *Graphic >> <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/cia-torture-report-key-points.html>**7 >> Key Points From the C.I.A.’s Torture Report >> <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/cia-torture-report-key-points.html>* >> >> *The report released by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence >> discloses new details about the C.I.A.’s torture practices. >> <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/cia-torture-report-key-points.html>* >> >> >> <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/cia-torture-report-key-points.html> >> >> *OPEN Graphic >> <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/cia-torture-report-key-points.html>* >> >> >> >> “Nevertheless,” she continued, “such pressure, fear and expectation of >> further terrorist plots do not justify, temper or excuse improper actions >> taken by individuals or organizations in the name of national security. The >> major lesson of this report is that regardless of the pressures and the >> need to act, the intelligence community’s actions must always reflect who >> we are as a nation, and adhere to our laws and standards.” >> >> Ms. Feinstein is expected to speak about the report in the Senate on >> Tuesday. >> >> The C.I.A. issued an angry response to the report, saying in a statement >> that it “tells part of the story,” but that “there are too many flaws for >> it to stand as the official record of the program.” >> >> The response acknowledged mistakes in the detention and interrogation >> program and in the agency’s analysis of the information gathered in >> interrogations. But, the agency said, “we still must question a report that >> impugns the integrity of so many C.I.A. officers when it implies — as it >> does clearly through the conclusions — that the agency’s assessments were >> willfully misrepresented in a calculated effort to manipulate.” >> >> The entire report is more than 6,000 pages long, but the committee voted >> in April to declassify only its 524-page executive summary and a rebuttal >> by Republican members of the committee. The investigation was conducted by >> staff members working for Democratic senators on the committee. >> >> The New York Times and other news organizations received an advance copy >> of the report and agreed not to publish any of its findings until the >> Senate Intelligence Committee made them public. The Times did not receive >> an advance copy of the Republican rebuttal. >> >> Many of the most extreme interrogation methods — including waterboarding >> — were authorized by Justice Department lawyers during the Bush >> administration. But the report also found evidence that a number of >> detainees had been subjected to other, unapproved methods while in C.I.A. >> custody. >> >> The torture of prisoners at times was so extreme that some C.I.A. >> personnel tried to put a halt to the techniques, but were told by senior >> agency officials to continue the interrogation sessions. >> >> The Senate report quotes a series of August 2002 cables from a C.I.A. >> facility in Thailand, where the agency’s first prisoner was held. Within >> days of the Justice Department’s approval to begin waterboarding the >> prisoner, Abu Zubaydah, the sessions became so extreme that some C.I.A. >> officers were “to the point of tears and choking up,” and several said they >> would elect to be transferred out of the facility if the brutal >> interrogations continued. >> >> During one waterboarding session, Abu Zubaydah became “completely >> unresponsive with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth.” The >> interrogations lasted for weeks, and some C.I.A. officers began sending >> messages to the agency’s headquarters in Virginia questioning the utility — >> and the legality — of what they were doing. But such questions were >> rejected. >> >> “Strongly urge that any speculative language as to the legality of given >> activities or, more precisely, judgment calls as to their legality >> vis-à-vis operational guidelines for this activity agreed upon and vetted >> at the most senior levels of the agency, be refrained from in written >> traffic (email or cable traffic),” wrote Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., then the >> head of the C.I.A.'s Counterterrorism Center. >> >> “Such language is not helpful.” >> >> Continue reading the main story >> <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/timeline-of-cias-secret-interrogation-program.html> >> *Graphic >> <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/timeline-of-cias-secret-interrogation-program.html>* >> >> *The Central Intelligence Agency used contentious interrogation >> techniques, including waterboarding and sleep deprivation, on dozens of the >> 119 men it detained in secret prisons between 2002 and 2008. A newly >> released report by the Senate Intelligence Committee found that the agency >> routinely misled the White House and Congress about the program. >> <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/timeline-of-cias-secret-interrogation-program.html>* >> >> >> <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/timeline-of-cias-secret-interrogation-program.html> >> >> *OPEN Graphic >> <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/timeline-of-cias-secret-interrogation-program.html>* >> >> >> >> The Senate report found that the detention and interrogation of Mr. >> Zubaydah and dozens of other prisoners were ineffective in giving the >> government “unique” intelligence information that the C.I.A. or other >> intelligence agencies could not get from other means. >> >> The report also said that the C.I.A.'s leadership for years gave false >> information about the total number of prisoners held by the C.I.A., saying >> there had been 98 prisoners when C.I.A. records showed that 119 men had >> been held. In late 2008, according to one internal email, a C.I.A. official >> giving a briefing expressed concern about the discrepancy and was told by >> Mr. Hayden, then the agency’s director, “to keep the number at 98” and not >> to count any additional detainees. >> >> The committee’s report concluded that of the 119 detainees, “at least 26 >> were wrongfully held.” >> >> “These included an ‘intellectually challenged’ man whose C.I.A. detention >> was used solely as leverage to get a family member to provide information, >> two individuals who were intelligence sources for foreign liaison services >> and were former C.I.A. sources, and two individuals whom the C.I.A. >> assessed to be connected to Al Qaeda based solely on information fabricated >> by a C.I.A. detainee subjected to the C.I.A.'s enhanced interrogation >> techniques,” the report said. >> >> Many Republicans have said that the report is an attempt to smear both >> the C.I.A. and the Bush White House, and that the report cherry-picked >> information to support a claim that the C.I.A.'s detention program yielded >> no valuable information. Former C.I.A. officials have already begun a >> vigorous public campaign to dispute the report’s findings. >> >> In its response to the Senate report, the C.I.A. said that to accept the >> Intelligence Committee’s conclusions, “there would have had to have been a >> yearslong conspiracy among C.I.A. leaders at all levels, supported by a >> large number of analysts and other line officers. >> >> “This conspiracy would have had to include three former C.I.A. directors, >> including one who led the agency after the program had largely wound down,” >> it added. >> >> “We cannot vouch for every individual statement that was made over the >> years of the program, and we acknowledge that some of those statements were >> wrong. But the image portrayed in the study of an organization that — on an >> institutional scale — intentionally misled and routinely resisted oversight >> from the White House, the Congress, the Department of Justice and its own >> O.I.G. simply does not comport with the record,” the statement said. O.I.G. >> stands for Office of Inspector General. >> >> The battle over the report’s conclusions has been waged behind closed >> doors for years, and provided the backdrop to the more recent fight over >> the C.I.A.'s penetration of a computer network used by committee staff >> members working on the investigation. C.I.A. officers came to suspect that >> the staff members had improperly obtained an internal agency review of the >> detention program over the course of their investigation, and that they >> broke into the network that had been designated for the committee’s use. >> >> Most of the detention program’s architects have left the C.I.A., but >> their legacy endures inside the agency. The chief of the agency’s >> Counterterrorism Center said during a meeting with John O. Brennan, the >> current C.I.A. director, in April that more than 200 people working for him >> had at one point participated in the program. >> >> According to the Senate report, even before the agency captured its first >> prisoner, C.I.A. lawyers began thinking about how to get approval for >> interrogation methods that might normally be considered torture. Such >> methods might gain wider approval, the lawyers figured, if they were proved >> to have saved lives. >> >> “A policy decision must be made with regard to U.S. use of torture,” >> C.I.A. lawyers wrote in November 2001, in a previously undisclosed memo >> titled “Hostile Interrogations: Legal Considerations for C.I.A. Officers.” >> >> The lawyers argued that “states may be very unwilling to call the U.S. to >> task for torture when it resulted in saving thousands of lives.” >> >> The Intelligence Committee report describes repeated efforts by the >> C.I.A. to make that case, even when the facts did not support it. For >> example, the C.I.A. helped edit a speech by Mr. Bush in 2006 to make it >> seem as if key intelligence was obtained through the most brutal >> interrogation tactics, even when C.I.A. records suggested otherwise. >> >> In 2002, the C.I.A. took custody of Abu Zubaydah, who was brought to >> Thailand. There, two C.I.A. contractors named James E. Mitchell and Bruce >> Jessen were in charge of the interrogation sessions, using methods that had >> been authorized by Justice Department lawyers. The two contractors, both >> psychologists, are identified in the Senate report under the pseudonyms >> Grayson Swigert and Hammond Dunbar. >> >> The program expanded, with dozens of detainees taken to secret prisons in >> Poland, Romania, Lithuania and other countries. In September 2006, Mr. Bush >> ordered all of the detainees in C.I.A. custody to be transferred to the >> prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and after that the C.I.A. held a small >> number of detainees in secret at a different facility for several months at >> a time — before they were also moved to Guantánamo Bay. >> >> Mr. Obama spoke expansively about the Senate report in August, saying >> that any “fair minded” person would believe that some of the methods that >> the C.I.A. used against prisoners amounted to torture. He said he hoped >> that the report reminded people that the “character of our country has to >> be measured in part not by what we do when things are easy but what we do >> when things are hard.” >> >> At the same time, Mr. Obama said that he understood the pressure that the >> C.I.A. was under after the Sept. 11 attacks, and that “it is important for >> us not to feel too sanctimonious in retrospect about the tough job that >> those folks had.” >> >> Taken in its entirety, the report is a portrait of a spy agency that was >> wholly unprepared for its new mission as jailers and interrogators — but >> that embraced its assignment with vigor. The report chronicles millions of >> dollars in secret payments between 2002 and 2004 from the C.I.A. to foreign >> officials, aimed at getting other governments to agree to host secret >> prisons. >> >> Cables from C.I.A. headquarters to field offices said that overseas >> officers should put together “wish lists” speculating about what foreign >> governments might want in exchange for bringing C.I.A. prisoners onto their >> soil. >> >> As one 2003 cable put it, “Think big.” >> >> >> >> __._,_.___ >> ------------------------------ >> Posted by: "beowulf" <[email protected]> >> ------------------------------ >> >> >> Visit Your Group >> <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmanFpbzI3BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0MTgxNDgyOTY-> >> >> >> [image: Yahoo! 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