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posted by Blackmoore on Tuesday December 09 2014, @11:30PM   Printer-friendly
from the painful-truths dept.

The NYT reports that with the release of the long-awaited Senate report on the use of torture by the United States government — a detailed account that will shed an unsparing light on the Central Intelligence Agency’s darkest practices after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the US is bracing itself for the risk that it will set off a backlash overseas. Some leading Republican lawmakers have warned against releasing the report, saying that domestic and foreign intelligence reports indicate that a detailed account of the brutal interrogation methods used by the CIA during the George W. Bush administration could incite unrest and violence, even resulting in the deaths of Americans. The White House acknowledged that the report could pose a “greater risk” to American installations and personnel in countries like Pakistan, Yemen, Egypt, Libya and Iraq. But it said that the government had months to plan for the reverberations from its report — indeed, years — and that those risks should not delay the release of the report by the Senate Intelligence Committee. “When would be a good time to release this report?” the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, asked. “It’s difficult to imagine one, particularly given the painful details that will be included.”

Among the administration’s concerns is that terrorist groups will exploit the disclosures in the report for propaganda value. The Islamic State already clads its American hostages in orange jumpsuits, like those worn by prisoners in CIA interrogations. Hostages held by the Islamic State in Syria were subjected to waterboarding, one of the practices used by the CIA to extract information from suspected terrorists. The 480-page document reveals the results of Senate investigation into the CIA's use of torture and other techniques that violate international law against prisoners held on terrorism-related charges. Though many details of the Senate's findings will remain classified – the document is a summary of a 6,000-page report that is not being released – the report is expected to conclude that the methods used by the CIA to interrogate prisoners during the post-9/11 years were more extreme than previously admitted and produced no intelligence that could not have been acquired through legal means.

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 10 2014, @08:42PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 10 2014, @08:42PM (#124853)

    I think the line is well *before* you hit torture...
    If I start torturing you, I have just given you a justification for torturing me. If I am about to be conquered, but before that happens, I decide to start torturing all of your guys I have in my custody. Well, as soon as you find out about that, you're going to retaliate, aren't you?

    Instead, if I show you that I too, am a human being, the effect may very well be that you too will show mercy to me, the conquered one. If you fall in the camp that is convinced that "even if there is a 1% probability of shit going seriously south, then I should act as if that probability is 100%", then I feel sorry for you, and for anyone around you.
    There likely is a 1% probability that your spouse will hit you in the future... better for you to start hitting your spouse before your spouse starts hitting you... right? right????

    Lastly, there is the argument that says "why wouldn't we do it, the other guys are doing it to us too". I find this logic incredibly weak. The majority is hardly ever right (they write the history books, but that doesn't mean they are right). If you are a parent, I'm sure you've heard (one of) your kids use this phrase at some point: "...but all the other kids are doing it". Anyone using said logic should be treated as a kid and be given the same level of responsibility: none! (that and a good whack on the head and talking to)