If you didn’t already know just how bad the CIA tortured captives during the War on Terror, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report Tuesday that described the inhumane methods of torture used by CIA officials on detained militants during the George W. Bush presidency.
Much of the information in the report was old news, like waterboarding, and the now-infamous scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison.
But the report also included some new findings, namely about the deliberate lies that many CIA operatives told to make torture seem effective.
“The CIA repeatedly provided incomplete and inaccurate information to White House personnel regarding the operation and effectiveness of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program,” according to the report.
“The CIA advocated for the continued use of the CIA’s enhanced interrogation ?techniques.”
The CIA was concerned that if they told the truth about just how ineffective torture was, the White House would wise up and put a stop to their “enhanced interrogation ?techniques.”
The CIA warned “termination of this program will result in loss of life, possibly extensive,” according to the report.
I think that torture results in loss of life, CIA.
They used scare tactics and fear-mongering to persuade the White House and the American public that torture, no matter how disturbing it is, is justifiable.
It never is, and it’s shameful that they have abused their power.
They manipulated not only the Bush administration but also American citizens so their egos could stay intact.
When you insist that effectively ending these disturbing methods of torture will result in extensive loss of life, of course the White House will acquiesce to your position.
If the Bush administration had ended this torture after the CIA said something like this, the White House would’ve had a disaster on their hands when it made it to the press.
The American public would’ve lost what little faith they had left in Bush and his presidency would have, for all intents and purposes, been over.
Every death would have been blamed on the White House’s decision to end torture and the CIA would be heroes.
And here’s an interesting tidbit: earlier this year, more than two-thirds of poll respondents said torture was justifiable in some circumstances.
This is all thanks to the CIA’s lies about its effectiveness. If the CIA would have been held accountable for the truth of their actions, this number certainly would not be as high.
It’s disconcerting to me how easily the CIA was able to lie.
There should have been some kind of checks and balances in place to help combat any falsehoods.
Of course, I have no idea what these would be. I’m just a lowly columnist.
But somebody should’ve known.
Somebody, i.e., President Bush, should have done something besides sit back and blindly trust the CIA to do its job.
Somebody needs to stand up and say what’s really true: torture is never justifiable.
zipperr@indiana.edu
