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Statements from National Security Network on CIA Torture Report

 

In response to today’s release of the declassified Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) report on CIA use of torture during the Bush Administration, NSN Executive Director John Bradshaw and NSN Senior Advisor Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton (Ret.) have each issued statements.

NSN Executive Director John Bradshaw issued the following statement:

Defenders of the enhanced interrogation program are trying to re-write history and portray it as a well-thought out, carefully legally-vetted plan carried out by CIA experts. In fact, the CIA had no expertise in this kind of interrogation and turned to rogue psychologists to slap together an approach based on the SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) training provided to U.S. military personnel to resist torture when captured by communist enemies. The torture techniques they borrowed were designed to solicit false confessions from captured servicemen, not to obtain useful intelligence. This experimental program was given shoddy legal approval after the fact by Bush Administration lawyers relying on facts provided to them by the very personnel operating the torture program, as documented in publicly available OLC memos, and then was reported inaccurately to those in the Administration with oversight authority. Even if this program provided pieces of information that were eventually useful, which remains in dispute, that information could have been obtained by lawful and professional intelligence practices. The program was therefore unnecessary and damaged our national security more than any possible benefit that was derived. The SSCI report makes a vital contribution to our nation’s security by ensuring that this shameful episode in American history will not be whitewashed and that the American public will know what was done in their name.

NSN Senior Advisor Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton (Ret.) issued the following statement:

The real test of a unit, an organization, or a nation is how it reacts when a wrong is committed. In the case of the CIA-sponsored unlawful activities revealed by the just released SSCI report, we as a nation must publicly admit that a wrong has been committed and that steps will be taken to prevent a recurrence. We are a just and lawful nation, and those who are our enemies cannot win if they fail to change us. This report is less about the CIA than it is about us as a nation of values.

Additional Resources:

• Releasing the Senate Report on CIA Torture: Making Sure History Isn’t Censored, National Security Network, 4/4/14