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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSenator Wyden: Americans will be "profoundly disturbed" by report on CIA
Sen. Wyden: Americans will be 'profoundly disturbed' by report on CIA's terrorist interrogations"I believe the American people will be profoundly disturbed by the contents of this report," the senior senator from Oregon wrote in a news release. "Though I can't provide any details until that declassification process is finished, I can say that the American people will see that much of what CIA officials have said about the effectiveness of coercive interrogations was simply untrue."
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"I have spoken about the intelligence leadership's culture of misinformation before and it continues to be a problem to this day," Wyden said in his news statement. "I have also been asking questions publicly for years about the role that outside contractors played in the interrogation program and I hope the American people will soon get some answers to those questions."
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"It is going to make many people uncomfortable," he wrote, "but getting the facts about torture out to the American people will keep these mistakes from being repeated and make our national intelligence agencies stronger and more effective in the long run."
When this report is declassified, will anyone responsible for the torture, those that gave the orders and those that carried them out, be held accountable??
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Not backwards.
Raksha
(7,167 posts)even though I know I'm not going to like what I see.
I assume you were being sarcastic, though.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)The ones in charge are untouchable.
quinnox
(20,600 posts)Thanks to Sen. Wyden for being one of those who refused to shut up about it!
He certainly didn't make friends at the White House for his stubborn persistence.
Rex
(65,616 posts)Also I know no one will be held responsible. THAT would require accountability and we ain't doing that!
neverforget
(9,436 posts)and again.
Rex
(65,616 posts)If we look throughout history, it almost seems like we are fated to make the same mistakes over and over.
Somewhat like heroin imo, we go until we take that one fatal dose (as a nation) and we either die or barely survive to hopefully have an epiphany and then hope that it lasts a lifetime.
With attention spans being what they are, well it just worries me.
indeed.
rocktivity
(44,576 posts)INTO court?
rocktivity
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)Raksha
(7,167 posts)Savannahmann
(3,891 posts)Come on Gang, let's GOTV! That way we can stop the CIA from spying on the Senate or something.
Rex
(65,616 posts)Before you say WTF...I read it RIGHT HERE on DU by a longtime poster! I wish I was joking.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)pffshht
(79 posts)The people who will shocked by this are the same ones who were shocked by Snowden's "revelations" about what the NSA has been doing.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)grasswire
(50,130 posts)I guess a handwritten letter to my senator is due.
neverforget
(9,436 posts)I'll fire one off tomorrow to Senator Wyden.
2banon
(7,321 posts)anyone have a look at the comment section at that link?
unbelievable trash/mindset there.
lunasun
(21,646 posts)blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)LOOK.
FORWARD.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)during the Bush era. He has never stopped trying to get the truth out to the American people. Several years ago on a different blog, I wrote a thank to him as he was the ONLY one with the guts to speak out back then. It's been a long road for him but he must have been very relieved by the Snowden revelations which forced the issue to the front pages of the world's media finally.
I always wondered why he was so deeply concerned about this issues when many of his colleagues chose to remain silent.
Then I read his father's book and learned something of his family's history, and it all became clear to me.
Thanks once again Senator, for understanding what 'Never Again' really meant.
neverforget
(9,436 posts)he's not known for overblown rhetoric. He's a good Senator and I'm proud that I can vote for him.
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)God, I can't believe we had to suffer through the Gordon Smith years.
condoleeza
(814 posts)So happy we now have Wyden and Merkley and to see them making a difference, not just collecting a paycheck.
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)but his efforts with respect to reforming the NSA are welcome.
vlakitti
(401 posts)"When this report is declassified, will anyone responsible for the torture, those that gave the orders and those that carried them out, be held accountable??"
That's a rhetorical question, right?
The answer is hell, no. These are the people who are never held accountable.
neverforget
(9,436 posts)one's that gave the orders.
JoeyT
(6,785 posts)I'm sure a few scapegoats will be hauled out into the village square and crucified so the Very Serious People can pretend we totally restored the rule of law and anyone that still talks about torture or other war crimes is just a malcontent to be ignored.
neverforget
(9,436 posts)It's a recipe for it to happen again.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)international body will. I don't think the US will do a thing. And the right-wing press will try to make heroes of the people who authorized the torture. The world will judge in any event. And I think that is a good thing. Maybe if the world let's the Bush administration know how immoral this torture is, then Republicans will think twice before doing such things again.
By the way, it seems logical to me that the torture did not produce much information. I would be surprised if Al Qaeda is organized like a well-oiled military in a sophisticated country. They may be successful in their inhuman, cruel isolated actions. But I gather from how widespread they seem to be and what fanatics they are that the individuals in Al Qaeda are probably not people who follow a leader with great discipline. Their actions may take short-term discipline and there may be small to medium-sized groups that are well disciplined, but the left hand probably does not always know what the right-and is doing, and neither does the brain, whoever that is.
If, in an organization, the information about strategy is diffused through the system and tends in part to bubble up rather than to trickle down, people working in the system know random facts that vaguely form a pattern, but do not know have an overall understanding of that system. In other words, systems that are loosely formed, made up of people who have a vague goal but are not focused on organization are difficult to spy on. Which is why the NSA is so frustrated that it tries to spy on all of us. It needs a different approach. It has a tough challenge.
neverforget
(9,436 posts)We lose the moral high ground when we act like those we despise.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)Maedhros
(10,007 posts)quinnox
(20,600 posts)hootinholler
(26,449 posts)From the highest high to the lowest low, if you torture you go to jail.
Additionally there needs to be a failure to prosecute burden, such that if you are aware of torture and fail to prosecute it, you are an accomplice and get to go to jail too.
We already require health professionals to pursue signs of child abuse under the penalty of law, we can require this.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)truebrit71
(20,805 posts)ProSense
(116,464 posts)Thursday, April 3, 2014
Washington, D.C. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) released the following statement after the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence voted to begin the process of declassifying the committees 6,200 page report on CIA interrogations:
I believe the American people will be profoundly disturbed by the contents of this report. Today, I joined my colleagues in voting to begin the process of declassifying the findings. Though I cant provide any details until that declassification process is finished, I can say that the American people will see that much of what CIA officials have said about the effectiveness of coercive interrogations was simply untrue. I have spoken about the intelligence leaderships culture of misinformation before and it continues to be a problem to this day.
I have also been asking questions publicly for years about the role that outside contractors played in the interrogation program and I hope the American people will soon get some answers to those questions. I urge the administration to move quickly to declassify this report. It is going to make many people uncomfortable, but getting the facts about torture out to the American people will keep these mistakes from being repeated and make our national intelligence agencies stronger and more effective in the long run.
http://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-statement-on-the-senate-intelligence-committees-vote-to-declassify-its-interrogation-report
Other statements
Upcoming Declassification Review Will Be Key Test for President Obama
WASHINGTON The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence voted today, by a bipartisan majority, to submit to the White House for declassification review and public release the executive summary, findings, and conclusions of the panels report on the CIAs Bush-era rendition, secret detention, and torture program. The full 6,300-page report is the most comprehensive account to date of the torture program.
"The vote on this landmark report is a big step towards making sure that all Americans know the truth about torture, so that we can make sure that torture is never used again," said Christopher Anders, senior legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union. "The key challenge for President Obama now is whether he will finally stand up to the CIA. The president should assert his authority to have the White House itself, and not the CIA, decide what gets declassified and what gets redacted. The CIA should not be handed a black-out pen to hide its use of torture or the lies it told to keep the torture program going."
A coalition of human rights and civil liberties groups sent a letter to President Obama last week to urge him, "given the CIA's inherent conflict of interest concerning the report," to have the White House itself lead the declassification process.
According to media accounts, the Senate report found that the CIA misled Congress, the Justice Department, and the Bush White House about the use of torture methods such as simulated drownings, shackling in painful positions, induced hypothermia, and slamming detainees against walls. The report also reportedly found that such methods did not help locate Osama bin Laden or thwart any terrorist plots, and were in fact counterproductive.
The ACLU is currently litigating a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to obtain the full investigative report, the CIAs official response defending its actions, and an internal agency review commissioned by then-CIA Director Leon Panetta. The Panetta review reportedly contradicts some of the CIAs official response to the Senate report. The CIA agreed in January in the lawsuit to process for possible release the CIA response and the Panetta review. That potential release is scheduled for May 22.
https://www.aclu.org/national-security/senate-committee-votes-release-landmark-report-cia-torture
The Intelligence Committees report on the now-defunct CIA detention and interrogation program should be shared with the American people to the greatest extent possible. The Senate at its best can act as the conscience of the Nation, and part of that responsibility is ensuring transparency in our government. We cannot learn from our mistakes without understanding what happened and how they occurred. The administration should move swiftly to review the committees executive summary, findings and conclusions so that they can be made public in as full a form as possible.
The use of torture during the previous administration was a shameful chapter in our history, and I fully support the Committees efforts to investigate and document what really happened. Senator Feinstein deserves enormous credit for her continued leadership in seeking declassification of portions of this report. I applaud her and those members of the Intelligence Committee who took the important step today of bringing this critical information one step closer to the public.
http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/comment-of-senator-patrick-leahy-d-vt-chairman-senate-judiciary-committee-on-the-senate-intelligence-committees-torture-report
Udall Pledges to Fight to Ensure White House, CIA Do Not Stymie Public Release of Landmark Study
Mark Udall, a leading advocate for Congress's duty to provide strong and independent oversight of covert agencies, heralded the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's bipartisan 11-3 vote today to declassify its landmark study of the CIA's detention and interrogation program. Udall, who serves on the committee and has led the effort to declassify the Senate Intelligence Committee's study, pledged to press the White House and CIA for the fullest possible declassification of the committees report.
"Today's vote is a historic moment for the Senate Intelligence Committee and our vigorous oversight efforts. I am calling on the president today to oversee the declassification process to ensure that as much of this important document as possible sees the light of day," Udall said. "The Constitution is clear and Coloradans agree that the Senate Intelligence Committee has a responsibility to oversee the CIA regardless of who is president and provide a full and accurate accounting of the operation and effectiveness of this misguided and destructive program.
"The public release of this study is critical to shedding light on this dark chapter of our country's history. It is also critical to restoring the credibility and integrity of the CIA as an institution. Anyone who dismisses this study for its focus on actions of the past need only look at the events of the past few months in particular, the CIA's unauthorized search of the committee's computers to understand that the CIA not only hasn't learned from its mistakes, but continues to perpetuate them. This study should impart crucial lessons to the CIA about the need to better operate and assess its programs and to accurately represent them. Acknowledging the detention and interrogation program's flaws is essential for the CIA's long-term institutional integrity, as well as for the legitimacy of ongoing sensitive programs. The findings of this report directly relate to how other CIA programs are managed today.
"To those who continue to argue that torture is effective, this study makes a powerful argument to the contrary drawing from six million of the CIA's own records and past interview reports of key personnel to do so. I hope that one of the key lessons that the CIA and our national security leaders take from this study is that we should never again torture in the name of national security and that oversight of intelligence operations is essential in a constitutional democracy."
Udall, who has repeatedly pressed the White House to publicly commit to declassifying the Senate Intelligence Committee's study, further urged the White House to ensure the CIA does not oversee the declassification of the study.
"Following today's historic vote, the president faces what I believe should be a straightforward question. He can defer declassification decisions to the CIA which has demonstrated an inability to face the truth about this program or pass this authority to the Director of National Intelligence or hold on to the redaction pen himself," Udall added. "The president needs to understand that the CIA's clear conflict of interest here requires that the White House step in and manage this process."
http://www.markudall.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=4154
neverforget
(9,436 posts)get the red out
(13,461 posts)But, I hope it could fuel an actual desire to get the CIA under control! Hope anyway.
I'm afraid some people will like the fact that "enemies" were tortured. There are probably those on the right who will try to make it a badge of honor for the CIA. Will people really care after "both sides" are heard on torture? Scary to think many might not.
neverforget
(9,436 posts)It's the right thing to do to hold those people accountable for what happened.
get the red out
(13,461 posts)I just have a hard time imaging it.
Autumn
(45,056 posts)You know, looking forward and all that shit.
Autumn
(45,056 posts)succumbs to the mighty shirtlessness that is Putin ? I blame you for my being a Putin lover!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4710306
Rex
(65,616 posts)I take one look at that hairy, manly chest and I just melt...plus he is the King of the Animals! Don't you want to be friends with the King of the Animals?
Yes, you too can ride a sharkbear! Thrilling!
Autumn
(45,056 posts)dare I say I could almost swoon with the emotion. I feel like wearing a cape and dancing and singing in the woods.
Solly Mack
(90,762 posts)polichick
(37,152 posts)and the U.N. climate change findings.
retired af major
(49 posts)A new season of 24 starts in May! You remember that show don't you, the CIA guy beats the bad guys silly during interrogations looking for weapons of mass destruction. First show premiered two months after Sept 11, 2001.
Nothing sketchy about this at all.
librechik
(30,674 posts)If people could see that it's only a moment and a few anonymous decisions before we all are in places like Guantanamo and nobody will give a shit about us?
I think we're hopelessly suicidal as a species, let alone an electorate.
.
zentrum
(9,865 posts)...disturbed, but they will yawn. The majority don't care what is done to those labeled "terrorists". Our country has lost its moral center.
Javaman
(62,517 posts)No.
That's how it works in todays America.
When confronted with questions as to why the purps won't be brought up on charges we will be the recipient of various forms of the now tired phrase, "the nation wouldn't survive it". And a rough translation means, "we, the current crop of willful stooges (aka politicians) to the wealthy and military machine, wouldn't survive it"
It's all about preserving legacy based on lies and the "winners" who write/rewrite the history.
Don't get me wrong, there will always be those who will work as the poster children for the outraged. The various congress people that will call for investigations (blue ribbon or otherwise) to "get to the bottom of this".
There will be all sorts of speeches, televised conferences and various hearings filled with lots of feigned indignation and finger wagging. The well rehearsed and over practiced expressions of "exasperation" and "head shaking in wonderment".
And most certainly there will be the usual smoke and mirrors by both sides to cloud out the actual issue which could lead to an actual real investigation.
In the end?
Several underlings will fall on their swords to serve their time in a country club jail for "crimes" that only cut the surface of the actual travesty, but they will be paraded around as the "one" who was the "mastermind".
The full court press by the Sunday talk show spokes models will make sure that subterfuge is the name of the game.
But the main mission is further division, not between the have mores and the have even less, but to further exploit infighting within the middle and lower class. Continuing to make sure that we the people never ever coalesce on a common cause.
And our gaze is never kept for long on the actual issue.
Don't be the least surprised if some non-trovercy (think Benghazi) is trumped up to distract us all when the real red meat of this report is issued. (most likely on a Friday Night News dump)
Yes, I'm cynical. I have lived a long time and have been witness to how our nation transitioned from the rights of the people to the rights of the corporation.
And at the end of the day, when all is lied and done, it's about money. It's always been about money. Nothing more nothing less.
And those in power; (don't insult yourself by thinking the politicians are in power) want to stay in power.
shanemcg
(80 posts)All the low lying fruit at Abu Graibh were convicted based on the photos that came out in the media and I believe a few officer sacrificial lambs, but no one of the higher ups like Cheney, Rumsvillan, or W. I guess the buck stops much lower these days!
Think of the jail time and life of derision that little hillbilly woman with the leash will endure for her part in torture, while W and the others that ordered it NO DOUBT, enjoy lives of splendor and honor.
Edit: removed an unnecessary epithet to an unfortunate backwoods woman.