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By John Darling For the Tidings December 15. 2014 6:52PM Was what CIA did after 9/11 appropriate? CIA Director John Brennan during a news conference at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., on Thursday, Dec. 11, defends his agency from accusations in a Senate report that it used inhumane interrogation techniques against terrorist suspect with no security benefits to the nation. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) The Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the CIA’s torture of detainees in the wake of the 9/11 attacks documents a more extensive system of more extreme "enhanced interrogation techniques" — which many say was outright torture — than was previously publicly known and, the report says, the CIA failed to get useful intelligence or prevent attacks due to the harsh tactics. The report says that in the years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the administration of George W. Bush oversaw a “deeply flawed” approach to so-called “enhanced interrogation” that led to much bogus information. In carrying out the regime, the report says, the CIA often lied or withheld information from Congress and the administration, which was carrying out wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, seeking to get at the roots of terrorism that led to 9/11.  Torture became a partisan issue when used soon after Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, in search of alleged “weapons of mass destruction.” One side said torture provided essential intel while the other said they violated American principals on human rights.  The new report gave grisly details of near-drowning by waterboarding, sleep deprivation, mock executions, threats to kin, "rectal feeding" and inducing hypothermia by prolonged nakedness in cement cells. Some detainees died.  Current CIA Director John Brennan, an Obama appointee, disputed the report's findings, saying some intel did thwart attacks, lead to captures and save lives — and “continues to inform our counterterrorism efforts to this day.”  Sen. Dianne Feinsten, chairman of the Senate committee, said Brennan’s comments were not true, adding that torture did not lead to the killing of Osama bin Laden, who plotted the 9/11 attacks.  President Barack Obama said the new report affirmed his view that such torture is “inconsistent with our values as a nation (and) did not serve our broader counterterrorism efforts or our national security interests.”  The report notes that conditions for prisoners were much worse than the CIA had ever admitted and that waterboarding and sleep deprivation were used “in near nonstop fashion for days or weeks at a time ... immediately, in combination and nonstop” for up to 180 hours.  Former Vice President Dick Cheney said on Fox News that the new report was “full of crap.” He added that Bush knew about it and was “an integral part of the program.” Cheney said, “I’d do it again in a minute.” Asked of Ashlanders Friday: “In light of Senate's release of report on CIA use of "enhanced interrogation techniques," do you feel the U.S. should have done what it did in the wake of 9/11? Vince Carnes — It was wrong. If it succeeded, that doesn’t make it right to kill people. We’re supposed to be setting an example in the world about everything. We’re supposed to be a world power, not shove democracy down people’s throats and then torture them if they don’t want it. As far as it being valuable intelligence, if you’re torturing someone long enough, they’ll tell you something, anything you want to hear. Alyssa Murray  — I’m not at all surprised with it, especially if you consider the history of the CIA. I’m not sure what should be done about it. It’s appalling. I’m glad we can be informed about it now, rather that 30 or 50 years down the road, like the things we did in the '50s. It undermines democracy and everything America claims to stand for. Suzanne Peeks  —  It’s silly of them to bring out this report now, this time of year. It does no good to remind people about it. It’s not going to do anyone any good and it puts our troops in danger. It’s absolutely about politics, all the way around and going after the president. I’m not embarrassed by it, no, and we got intelligence from it. Kim Lovering   —  It’s awful, terrible. It’s a human atrocity. Everyone has the right to know what’s going on in our government. It’s really astounding. I’m a liberal Democrat, so I always want our government to run right, justly. We shouldn’t ever have been in the Mideast in the first place. It just breaks my heart to see human suffering on the level it is now.   http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20141215/NEWS/141219875 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->