A summary of the committee’s five-year review indicated that the CIA applied its so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” in near non-stop fashion for days or weeks at a time.

The techniques were said to include severe waterboarding that evolved into a series of near drownings, sleep deprivation for up to 180 hours and unnecessary rectal feeding.

Despite the utilization of such aggressive techniques, the review claimed that the program did not lead to the collection of intelligence about any imminent threats.

The report stated that examples of purported counterterrorism “successes” that the CIA attributed to the use of its enhanced interrogation techniques were found to be wrong in fundamental respects.

Instead, the enhanced interrogation techniques regularly resulted in fabricated information, putting law enforcement officials on the wrong track.

The review subsequently found that the CIA provided inaccurate information [read: LIED] about the effectiveness of the program [in] to obtain legal and policy approval.

The CIA provided inaccurate information to the White House, Congress, the Justice Department, the CIA inspector general, the media, and the American public, the report claimed.

Authorized by President George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks, the CIA’s detention and interrogation program remained in effect until President Barack Obama signed an executive order shortly after taking office in 2009 that rescinded the CIA’s detention authority and restricted interrogation techniques to those authorized by the Army Field Manual. [an order the CIA ignored, one strongly suspects... -ED]

Stating that the CIA’s techniques amounted to torture, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she released the report in the hopes that it will prevent future coercive interrogation practices.

Feinstein also said the limitations on interrogation techniques ordered by Obama should be enshrined in legislation so they cannot be overturned by a future president.

..Not all Republicans were critical of the report, however, as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., expressed support for the release of the review in remarks on the Senate floor.

McCain, who was tortured while held captive as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said personal experience taught him that the abuse of prisoners will produce more bad intelligence than good.

“But in the end, torture’s failure to serve its intended purpose isn’t the main reason to oppose its use,” McCain said. “I have often said, and will always maintain, that this question isn’t about our enemies; it’s about us. It’s about who we were, who we are and who we aspire to be. It’s about how we represent ourselves to the world.”

l Photograph: Associated Newspapers

He added, “Our enemies act without conscience. We must not. This executive summary of the Committee’s report makes clear that acting without conscience isn’t necessary, it isn’t even helpful, in winning this strange and long war we’re fighting. We should be grateful to have that truth affirmed.”

by RTT Staff Writer

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