Red Cross Report Citing CIA Torture Spurs More Calls for Investigation

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.