Red Cross Report Citing CIA Torture Spurs More Calls for Investigation
CIA chief sets up team to cooperate with Senate intelligence panel, names ex-Senator Rudman adviser
Congress is still mulling a proposed truth commission to investigate the conduct of the Bush administration in the wake of 9/11, but others aren't waiting to shine daylight on controversial government actions.
The CIA subjected suspected terrorists to beatings, simulated drowning, and prolonged periods in stress positions, treatment that alone or in its totality "constituted torture," according to a previously confidential report from the International Committee of the Red Cross that was made public this week in the New York Review of Books. Other so-called enhanced interrogation techniques "constituted cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment," according to excerpts of the report.
The disclosure of the ICRC report prompted more calls for a review of CIA conduct. "Our country cannot turn a blind eye to [the Red Cross] findings," said Linda Gustitus, president of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. "We must determine and make public all the facts with respect to this conduct, and we must hold the leaders who ordered these acts accountable."
On Monday, CIA Director Leon Panetta announced that he was creating a special working group to coordinate the spy agency's cooperation with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which is examining the detention, rendition, and interrogation of suspected terrorists.
"CIA's input will be crucial to these important projects," Panetta wrote in a letter to agency employees. "The Agency's voice must be heard."
In addition, Panetta appointed former New Hampshire Sen. Warren Rudman to serve as a special adviser whose focus will be the Senate review. A consummate beltway insider, Rudman helped author a key report on the threats posed by international terrorism before the 9/11 attacks.
The CIA has long maintained that agency employees acting within the legal guidelines issued by the Justice Department should not be prosecuted for their actions. The Senate committee doesn't seem eager to press for prosecution of CIA interrogators.
Echoing previous missives to his workforce, Panetta reiterated that he had received assurances that CIA officers are not the target of the review. "The chairman and vice chairman of the committee have assured me that their goal is to draw lessons for future policy decisions, not to punish those who followed guidance from the Department of Justice," Panetta wrote. "That is only fair."
- Read more about the Senate investigation.
- Read more about the CIA.
Reader Comments
Prosecute the war criminals - Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld
These people acted in the same criminal capacity as other war criminals and should be tried for their crimes against humanity. There is no excuse for torture.
They flouted the Geneva Convention and the Constitution of the United States of America, to the horror and disgust of the rest of the world. They declared themselves above the law. No wonder they also condone similar actions by the Israelis.
It's time the American people put a stop to the flagrant abuse of power by the government. The new administration is now complicit if it doesn't act to prosecute the previous office holders.
My experience with the Red Cross
In 1945 my sister, our maid's daughter, Mathilde and I were evacuated from Mulhouse, France to Switzerland. The Red Cross took all our clothes, put us in uniforms and sent us to different families. The family that took me in owned a beauty shop where I had to work from 8AM until 6PM every day cleaning the floor (I was 8 years old). My sister who was 13 was placed with a family who owned a small cheese factory. Everyday at 2AM she had to go work at the factory, in the afternoon she had to take care of the family's 2 babies. Mathilde worked on a farm.
For 8 months our parents had no idea where we were, there had been no communication from the Red Cross until the day before we returned to Mulhouse.
My sister had lost so much weight my parents almost did not recognize her, I remember my mother crying when she saw her, she had also lost almost all of her due to a lice infestation, I was in pretty good shape thanks to the maid who made sure I had food. Mathilde was 6 months pregnant (she was 14 at the time.) Every time I hear about how wonderful the Red Cross is I get sick and angry because of the way we were treated.
Let's waste more money on these people
Here's the rule of thumb; do they have all their fingers and toes? Do the still have their head attached to their bodies?
If the answer is yes than drop it.
If you keeppushing htis issue there won't be any POW's, just a bunch of KIA's
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