The CIA torture report

Better the gutter than a situation where Americans are prosecuted for crimes while the rest of the world commits those same crimes against Americans with impunity.



Meh. None of that moral authority ever resulted in anyone bothering when it was Americans who were being tortured.

What a serious crock, pederast.

What country extradites American citizens and renders them to third countries?

What country maintains a jail with several hundred US prisoners most without charges and with indefinite imprisonment, torturing them in some pretty ******* sick ways in a third nation?

What other country has droned 1000's of US citizens in the US and abroad?

How stupid are you?

Bush White House Was Worried Colin Powell Would ‘Blow His Stack’ If Briefed on Torture
Why??
=====

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-12-09/bush-white-house-was-worried-colin-powell-would-blow-his-stack-if-briefed-on-torture

<snip>
The Bush White House didn’t brief then-Secretary of State Colin Powell about the specifics of the CIA's interrogation program until September 2003 because it was worried Powell would “blow his stack” if he found out what was going on, according to the report released Tuesday by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

According to a July 2003 email, the official reason the National Security Council didn’t have a full briefing on the program at that time was to “avoid press disclosures.” But unofficially, the email said, "it is clear to us from some of the runup meetings we had with counsel that the is extremely concerned Powell would blow his stack if he were to be briefed on what’s been going on."

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice decided later that Powell, along with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, should in fact be briefed on the program. Both were briefed for 25 minutes on Sept. 16, 2003. The CIA started using what it called “enhanced interrogation” tactics in 2002.

....more

The CIA’s real failure? It pursued the wrong targets
It was an open secret Pakistan’s ISI fostered the Taliban but the US never confronted Islamabad


Patrick Cockburn

Tuesday 9 December 2014

The controversy over the use of torture by the CIA obscures two important aspects of “the war on terror” which the agency was supposedly waging. The first is that this war has demonstrably failed since Isis, terrorists by any definition of the term, today rules a large part of the Middle East in northern Iraq and eastern Syria.

It has achieved this success despite the vast budgets of American and European security agencies after 9/11. Not only did they fail to stop this happening: they do not seem to have even noticed it was occurring until it was too late. They were much happier focusing on Osama bin Laden’s core al-Qaeda that was a group of limited size even before it lost its bases in Afghanistan in 2001.

The continuing threat from al-Qaeda was exaggerated and the organisation was presented post-2001 as a sort of mini-Pentagon with senior officials who could be regularly eliminated or captured providing Washington with politically useful successes. But over the last 13 years such operations attributed to al-Qaeda were mostly petty. The end result of the CIA operations has been the triumph of a group, espousing much the same ideology and aims as Bin Laden, establishing its own state that stretches from the Iranian border to the outskirts of Aleppo.

A second aspect of the war on terror is that from the beginning it avoided targeting two countries without whose complicity 9/11 could not have happened: Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. It was obvious within days of 9/11 that citizens of Saudi Arabia were heavily implicated, with 15 out of the 19 hijackers Saudi nationals. Bin Laden himself came from the Saudi elite and the US inquiry into the attack found that financing from al-Qaeda had come primarily from private donors in the Saudi Kingdom. But President George W Bush and his administration were not only careful not to point the finger at Saudi Arabia but had 28 pages of the official report on its role censored despite the pleas of the victims of 9/11. President Obama promised as a candidate to allow these pages to be published but has never done so.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-cias-real-failure-it-pursued-the-wrong-targets-9913730.html

Memory Lane/2004: Goss was 'given instructions' to purge Democrats from the CIA

Goss was 'given instructions' to purge Democrats from the CIA

Now that Mary McCarthy has "categorically denied" disclosing classified information on Bush's secret prisons, the political debate shifts a bit. Instead of assuming that McCarthy was responsible for leaks, we now have to wonder why, exactly, CIA Director Porter Goss sacked a veteran intelligence analyst. It's too soon to say with any certainty whether Goss, who personally oversaw the investigation into this leak, was driven by partisan motivations, but there's reason to believe the director of central intelligence was not acting on principle. After all, McCarthy was a Democrat and hold-over from the Clinton years -- and Goss is a former House Republican who has tried to purge top-ranking CIA officials of anyone who wasn't loyal to Bush. Let's not forget this Newsday report from November 2004 and how it might apply to the McCarthy controversy.

The White House has ordered the new CIA director, Porter Goss, to purge the agency of officers believed to have been disloyal to President George W. Bush or of leaking damaging information to the media about the conduct of the Iraq war and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, according to knowledgeable sources. "The agency is being purged on instructions from the White House," said a former senior CIA official who maintains close ties to both the agency and to the White House. "Goss was given instructions ... to get rid of those soft leakers and liberal Democrats. The CIA is looked on by the White House as a hotbed of liberals and people who have been obstructing the president's agenda." (emphasis added)
And now we're supposed to believe that Goss, whose history of rigid partisanship is overwhelming, ran a fair and objective investigation of McCarthy? Please.

-- Guest Post by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/04/25.html#a8038

WASHINGTON - The White House has ordered the new CIA director, Porter Goss, to purge the agency of officers thought to have been disloyal to President Bush or of leaking damaging information to the media about the conduct of the war in Iraq and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, according to knowledgeable sources.

"The agency is being purged on instructions from the White House," said a former senior CIA official who maintains close ties to the agency and to the White House. "Goss was given instructions ... to get rid of those soft leakers and liberal Democrats. The CIA is looked on by the White House as a hotbed of liberals and people who have been obstructing the president's agenda."

One of the first casualties appears to be Stephen Kappes, deputy director of clandestine services, the CIA's most powerful division. The Washington Post reported Saturday that Kappes tendered his resignation after a confrontation with Goss' chief of staff, Patrick Murray….

http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/CIA-purge-may-be-in-the-works-1977849.php

Evil Dick: Rectal rehydration was not "one of the authorized or approved techniques"


http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/vice-president-dick-cheney-cia-torture-report-full/story?id=27513355

He insisted the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques were all legally justified and inconsistent with "torture," though he conceded that the practice of "rectal rehydration" mentioned in the report, "was not one of the authorized or approved techniques."

Cheney said he also rejects the allegation that his boss, President George W. Bush, was kept in the dark. “He was in fact an integral part of the program. He had to approve it before we moved forward with it,“ Cheney said. “He knew everything he needed to know and wanted to know about the program."

While the brutal and graphic descriptions of the techniques have dominated headlines and been labeled "torture" by President Obama, Cheney says critics have lost sight of the context.

The former vice president said he's particularly bothered by criticism over the treatment of Khalid Sheilk Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of 9/11. “He is in our possession, we know he’s the architect , what are we supposed to do? Kiss him on both cheeks?“ Cheney said.

Torture report: CIA interrogations chief was involved in Latin American torture camps
Source: Telegraph

Torture report: CIA interrogations chief was involved in Latin American torture camps

Senior agent in torture programme was recommended for censure decades earlier for “inappropriate use of interrogation techniques”

By Peter Foster, Washington
7:00AM GMT 11 Dec 2014

The CIA officer tasked with interrogating the most important prisoners in America's secret detention programme allegedly abused captives during the agency's covert operations in Latin America in the 1980s, it has emerged.
The US Senate's three-year inquiry into the CIA's use of torture after September 11 reveals that a senior agent involved in the programme was recommended for censure decades earlier for “inappropriate use of interrogation techniques”.

The unnamed officer was appointed to head the CIA's "high value detainee" team in autumn 2002, shortly after the agency began waterboarding a prisoner at secret detention centre in Afghanistan.
Human rights groups said that the agent's promotion despite his track record of abusing prisoners was evidence that that the CIA did not hold its officers accountable for torture.

~ snip ~

According to the report, the agent who would become the CIA's chief of interrogations beginning in 2002 "was involved in training and conducted interrogations" in Latin America during that era. The report goes on to say that "the CIA inspector general later recommended that he be orally admonished for inappropriate use of interrogation techniques."

~ snip ~

“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."

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11286727/Torture-report-CIA-interrogations-chief-was-involved-in-Latin-American-torture-camps.html

You really do have a severe persecution complex, don't you?

And what part of keeping the moral high ground don't you understand?

In your little mind, America has stood alone and your people have been tortured left, right and centre while the rest of us just left you to it. The good ol' USA against the world.
Tell me, are you a Hollywood scriptwriter?

Your arrogant mentality is obviously not unusual over there, as this warped view of the world and how it should be treated with contempt is exactly how the CIA bosses have got your country into such an embarrassing mess.

Like I said before, this is a massive comedown for the USA. Your shining beacon to the world now shines about as bright as some tinpot banana republic's.

Your leaders at the time proved no better than Saddam or Gaddafi.

Blair was probably just as involved, albeit in a lap dog role, and if this is the case then I am ashamed.

Nope.



The fact that I reject your requests about how America should behave does not mean that I don't understand the requests.



Get your facts straight. My IQ is a billion times higher than yours.



That's a slight exaggeration. Your behavior isn't quite that appalling.



It is well-justified.



We are not in any embarrassing mess.

There is nothing warped about my view of the world.



Oh dear! Whatever will we do?!?

Hey, I know what we'll do. We'll get ready to go see the Hobbit when it comes out in theaters. Can't wait to see the final installment.

I gotta remember to purchase the 3D Blu-Ray of the Expanded Edition of Part Two, so I can watch that before heading out for Part Three. Maybe I'll head over to Amazon after I post this.



I recommend that you NOT say that to the face of anyone who was victimized by either dictator.



Better check the bottom of Page 8.

Seriously though, there is nothing to be ashamed of. The Lefties are throwing a silly Leftie-tantrum. Pay them no mind and they'll get tired of their tantrum after awhile.

Cheney Throws Bush Under The Bus:"He Was In Fact An Integral Part Of The (Torture) Program

Dick Cheney discussed the newly released Senate torture report Wednesday on Fox News, and in particular challenged a finding that former President George W. Bush hadn't been briefed on the CIA's harsh interrogation methods until years after they'd already been in use.

Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked the former vice president whether the agency deliberately kept Bush in the dark about its so-called enhanced interrogation techniques.

"Not true. Didn't happen," Cheney responded. "Read his book, he talks about it extensively in his memoirs. He was in fact an integral part of the program, he had to approve it before we went forward with it."

Asked if there was ever a point where he knew more about the CIA's activity than the President, Cheney said "I think he knew everything he needed to know and wanted to know about the program."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/dick-cheney-george-w-bush-knew-about-torture-program

Only CIA Agent Jailed for Torture Program Is Whistleblower Who Confirmed Its Existence
12/10/2014

Former operative John Kiriakou, currently in prison, was charged with a crime after helping expose widespread abuses conducted by agency

?itok=sOGy9NZS

There is only one U.S. government employee who has gone to jail in connection with the widespread torture program by the CIA documented in the executive summary (pdf) of the Senate report that was partially released Tuesday: the man who helped expose it six years ago.

John Kiriakou, who worked for the CIA between 1990 and 2004, stepped forward in 2007 and confirmed to press outlets some of the first details about the agency's widespread use of torture.

Among Kiriakou's revelations was an account to ABC News of the repeated water-boardings of Abu Zubaydah—a man currently imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay without charges whose 12 years of torture and abuse at the hands of the U.S. were further exposed in the Senate report.

In 2013, Kiriakou—a father of five—was prosecuted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act for allegedly revealing classified information to a reporter. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison, which he is still serving. His incarceration came after the Obama administration refused to prosecute any of the higher-up government officials who designed, authorized, or otherwise took part in implementation of the torture program.


http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/12/10/only-cia-agent-jailed-torture-program-whistleblower-who-confirmed-its-existence

Here we go. The puppet serves no use now apart from scapegoating, so the strings are being cut.

I think this once we will do something about out of control police, and torture. This isn't going to go away very quickly otherwise.

Torture Report Confirms Team Bush War Crimes
Monday, 15 December 2014 09:21
By Marjorie Cohn, Truthout | News Analysis

<snip>

Reading the 499-page torture report just released by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was a disgusting experience. Even after many years of writing books and articles about the Bush torture policy, I was unprepared for the atrocious pattern of crimes our government committed against other human beings in our name.

One of the most hideous techniques the CIA plied on detainees was called "rectal rehydration" or "rectal feeding" without medical necessity - a sanitized description of rape by a foreign object. A concoction of pureed "hummus, pasta with sauce, nuts and raisins" was forced into the rectum of one detainee. Another was subjected to "rectal rehydration" to establish the interrogator's "total control over the detainee." This constitutes illegal, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and a humiliating outrage upon personal dignity.

Several detainees were waterboarded, a technique whereby water is poured into the nose and mouth to cause the victim to think he's drowning. One detainee in CIA custody was tortured on the waterboard 183 times; another was waterboarded 83 times. Waterboarding has long been considered torture, which is a war crime. Indeed, the United States hung Japanese military leaders for the war crime of torture after World War II.

Other "enhanced interrogation techniques" (EIT) included being slammed into walls, hung from the ceiling, kept in total darkness, deprived of sleep - sometimes with forced standing - for up to seven and one-half days, forced to stand on broken limbs for hours on end, threatened with mock execution, confined in a coffin-like box for 11 days, bathed in ice water, dressed in diapers. One detainee "literally looked like a dog that had been kenneled."

The executive summary of the torture report was made public, but the 6,700-page report remains classified. The summary depicts the CIA at best, as keystone cops, at worst, as pathological, lying, sadistic war criminals. The CIA lied repeatedly about the effectiveness of the torture and cruel treatment. Interrogations of detainees were much more brutal than the CIA represented to government officials and the American public.

Bush's CIA directors George Tenet, Porter Goss and Michael Hayden should be charged with crimes, along with their minions who carried out the torture...

<snip>

Much More: http://truth-out.org/news/item/28003-torture-report-confirms-team-bush-war-crimes