The 525-page report is a summary of a classified 6,700 page review.
The Senate Select Intelligence Committee spent more than five years analyzing approximately 6.3 million pages of documents, at a cost of $40 million.
Among the report’s conclusions:
— “The use of the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques was not an effective means of obtaining accurate information or gaining detainee cooperation.”
— “The interrogations of CIA detainees were brutal and far worse than the CIA represented to policymakers and others.”
Republican senators on the committee did not participate in the study. Six of the senators issued a dissent, “We have no doubt that the CIA’s detention program saved lives and played a vital role in weakening (al-Qaeda) while the program was in operation.”
The Report By the Numbers:
119 detainees were held at CIA sites between 2002 and 2008. This is 20 more than previously reported by the CIA.
113 were captured between 2002 and 2004.
–
December 10, 2014 – The Justice Department announces that it does not plan to initiate any new criminal investigations as a result of the torture report. U. S. law enforcement sources say if another country files an arrest warrant for a U.S. official related to the CIA program, the Justice Department will not enforce it.
Reaction:
CIA Director John Brennan – “It is our considered view that the detainees who were subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques provided information that was useful and was used in the ultimate operation to go against Bin Laden.”
Dick Cheney, former vice president – “What I keep hearing out there is they portray this as a rogue operation, and the agency was way out of bounds and then they lied about it…I think that’s all a bunch of hooey. The program was authorized. The agency did not want to proceed without authorization, and it was also reviewed legally by the Justice Department before they undertook the program.”
Alberto Gonzales, former Attorney General – “My initial reaction was disappointment, disappointment about the report generally because I don’t know how much of it is true. Since it was signed only by Democrats, I don’t know whether information that was in the report was placed out of context. I don’t know what omissions of fact and evidence exists. And obviously, we know key participants, key witnesses, key players in this weren’t even interviewed and for that reason, I think the report is terribly flawed”
Michael Hayden, former CIA director – “I think the conclusions they drew were analytically offensive and almost street-like in their simplistic language and conclusions.”
Secretary of State John Kerry – “It was right to end these practices for a simple but powerful reason: they were at odds with our values. They are not who we are, and they’re not who or what we had to become, because the most powerful country on earth doesn’t have to choose between protecting our security and promoting our values.”
Senator John McCain – “It is a thorough and thoughtful study of practices that I believe not only failed their purpose — to secure actionable intelligence to prevent further attacks on the U.S. and our allies — but actually damaged our security interests, as well as our reputation as a force for good in the world.”
President Barack Obama – “These techniques did significant damage to America’s standing in the world and made it harder to pursue our interests with allies and partners.”
