I just read that royalty watchers were stunned by a basketball star's touching her royal highness, the breeder of a future king of Britain. Horrors. What's next? Pitchforks, tar and feathers? Frankly, I don't understand why there's so much media coverage for such a banal scripted activities of some of the most boring people on this planet. Anyway, I guess people need a circus show.
Meanwhile, the US Senate released a report about the CIA's torture practices. Yeah, pretty bad stuff. Torture is illegal and--I know I'm trending into controversial territory--immoral. No matter how it's labeled--like "enhanced interrogation--it's barbaric, unworthy of a society that wants to claim it abides by the rules of law, international treaties it has signed, and a champion of human rights.
What's interesting, and buried in the report, is that torture did not produce actionable information. Of course, many of our own experts had said that many times in the past. The torturers copied the brutality of some of our enemies. I imagine that if we watched a movie of Americans being treated the same way by some foreign language speaking torturers, we'd be calling for the annihilation of those savages and their organizations or countries.
From the Think Progress site, here are 17 facts in the Senate's report on torture. By the way, this is just about the CIA. There were other US agencies, including the military, that used torture. Remember Abu Graib prison in Baghdad?
Below are just some of the most damning findings from the Committee’s report:
1. Torture did not lead the CIA to the courier who ultimately helped capture Osama bin Laden.
“The most accurate information on Abu Ahmad al-Kuwaiti — facilitator
whose identification and tracking led to the identification of UBL’s
compound and the operation that resulted in UBL’s death — “obtained from
a CIA detainee was provided by a CIA detainee who had not yet been
subjected to the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques; and CIA
detainees who were subjected to the CIA’s enhanced interrogation
techniques withheld and fabricated information about Abu Ahmad
al-Kuwaiti.” [Page 379]
2. CIA personnel objected to torture techniques, but were “instructed” by the CIA headquarters to continue.
“The non-stop use of the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques was
disturbing to CIA personnel at DETENTION SITE GREEN. These CIA personnel
objected to the continued use of the CIA’s enhanced interrogation
techniques against Abu Zubaydah, but were instructed by CIA Headquarters
to continue using the techniques…”Several on the team profoundly
affected.. .some to the point of tears and choking up. [Page 473]
3. The two psychologists who helped the CIA create the torture techniques earned over $81 million.
“In 2006, the value of the CIA’s base contract with the company
formed by the psychologists with all options exercised was in excess of
$180 million; the contractors received $81 million prior to the
contract’s termination in 2009. In 2007, the CIA provided a multi-year
indemnification agreement to protect the company and its employees from
legal liability arising out of the program. The CIA has since paid out
more than $1 million pursuant to the agreement.” [Page 11]
4. Colin Powell was not briefed on CIA interrogation methods because he would “blow his stack”.
“At the direction of the White House, the secretaries of state and
defense – both principals on the National Security Council – were not
briefed on program specifics until September 2003. An internal CIA email
from July 2003 noted that “… the WH [White House] is extremely
concerned [Secretary] Powell would blow his stack if he were to be
briefed on what’s been going on.” Deputy Secretary of State Armitage
complained that he and Secretary Powell were “cut out” of the National
Security Council coordination process.” [Page 7]
5. The CIA used rectal feeding on detainees.
“At least five CIA detainees were subjected to “rectal rehydration”
or rectal feeding without documented medical necessity. …Majid Khan’s
“lunch tray” consisting of hummus, pasta with sauce, nuts, and raisins
was “pureed” and rectally infused. [Page 4]
6. CIA leadership refused to punish an officer who killed a detainee during torture session.
“On two occasions in which the CIA inspector general identified
wrongdoing, accountability recommendations were overruled by senior CIA
leadership. In one instance, involving the death of a CIA detainee at
COBALT, CIA Headquarters decided not to take disciplinary action against
an officer involved because, at the time, CIA… In another instance
related to a wrongful detention, no action was taken against a CIA
officer because, “[t]he Director strongly believes that mistakes should
be expected in a business filled with uncertainty,” and “the Director
believes the scale tips decisively in favor of accepting mistakes that
over connect the dots against those that under connect them.” In neither
case was administrative action taken against CIA management personnel.”
[Page 14]
7. The CIA tortured innocent people.
“Of the 119 known detainees that were in CIA custody during the life
of the program, at least 26 were wrongfully held. Detainees often
remained in custody for months after the CIA determined they should not
have been detained….Other KSM [Khalid Sheikh Mohammed] fabrications led
the CIA to capture and detain suspected terrorists who were later found
to be innocent.” [Page 485]
8. The CIA held an “intellectually challenged man” to use as leverage against his family.
“[A]n “intellectually challenged” man whose CIA 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 CIA sources, and two individuals whom the CIA assessed
to be connected to al-Qa’ida based solely on information fabricated by a
CIA detainee subjected to the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques.”
[Page 12]
9. The CIA intentionally mislead the media to “shape public opinion.”
“The CIA’s Office of Public Affairs and senior CIA officials
coordinated to share classified information on the CIA’s Detention and
Interrogation Program to select members of the media to counter public
criticism, shape public opinion, and avoid potential congressional
action to restrict the CIA’s detention and interrogation authorities and
budget.” [Page 8]
10. CIA officers threatened to kill and rape detainees’ mothers.
“CIA officers also threatened at least three detainees with harm to
their families—to include threats to harm the children of a detainee,
threats to sexually abuse the mother of a detainee, and a threat to “cut
[a detainee's] mother’s throat.” [Page 4]
11. The CIA dismissed information that wasn’t obtained through torture, even though it proved to be true.
“KSM’s reporting during his first day in CIA custody included an
accurate description of a Pakistani/British operative, which was
dismissed as having been provided during the initial “‘throwaway’ stage”
of information collection when the CIA believed detainees provided
false or worthless information.’” [Page 82]
12. CIA torture techniques included mock burials and use of insects.
“(1) the attention grasp, (2) walling, (3) facial hold, (4) facial
slap, (5) cramped confinement, (6) wall standing, (7) stress positions,
(8) sleep deprivation, (9) waterboard, (10) use of diapers, (11) use of
insects, and (12) mock burial.” [Page 32]
13. Some interrogators had previously admitted to sexual assault.
“The Committee reviewed CIA records related to several CIA officers
and contractors involved in the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation
Program, most of whom conducted interrogations. The Committee identified
a number of personnel whose backgrounds include notable derogatory
information calling into question their eligibility for employment,
their access to classified information, and their participation in CIA
interrogation activities. In nearly all cases, the derogatory
information was known to the CIA prior to the assignment of the CIA
officers to the Detention and Interrogation Program. This group of
officers included individuals who, among other issues, had engaged in
inappropriate detainee interrogations, had workplace anger management
issues, and had reportedly admitted to sexual assault.” [Page 59]
14. One interrogator played Russian roulette.
“Among other abuses…had engaged in ‘Russian Roulette’ with a detainee.” [Page 424]
15. The CIA tortured its own informants by accident.
“In the spring of 2004, after two detainees were transferred to CIA
custody, CIA interrogators proposed, and CIA Headquarters approved,
using the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques on one of the two
detainees because it might cause the detainee to provide information
that could identify inconsistencies in the other detainee’s story. After
both detainees had spent approximately 24 hours shackled in the
standing sleep deprivation position, CIA Headquarters confirmed that the
detainees were former CIA sources. The two detainees had tried to
contact the CIA on multiple occasions prior to their detention to inform
the CIA of their activities and provide intelligence. [Page 133]
16. The CIA tortured detainees in a dungeon.
“Conditions at CIA detention sites were poor, and were especially
bleak early in the program. CIA detainees at the COBALT detention
facility were kept in complete darkness and constantly shackled in
isolated cells with loud noise or music and only a bucket to use for
human waste. Lack of heat at the facility likely contributed to the
death of a detainee. The chief of interrogations described COBALT as a
“dungeon.” Another seniorCIA officer stated that COBALT was itself an
enhanced interrogation technique.” [Page 4]
17. The CIA spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the torture program.
“CIA records indicate that the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation
Program cost well over $300 million in non-personnel costs. This
included funding for the CIA to construct and maintain detention
facilities, including two facilities costing nearly $X million that were
never used, in part due to host country political concerns. To
encourage governments to clandestinely host CIA detention sites, or to
increase support for existing sites, the CIA provided millions of
dollars in cash payments to foreign government officials.” [Page 16]
