CIA Pushes Back to UN Outrage With Torture Tactics
International condemenation is mounting against the CIA over the torture report released earlier this week by Senate Democrats.
A special investigator at the United Nations is demanding that Americans be prosecuted if they violated international law against torture.
Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colorado, is calling on President Barack Obama to punish CIA officials who were involved in the interrogation policy.
“The president needs to purge his administration of high level officials who were instrumental to the development and running of this program. He needs to force a cultural change at the CIA,” Udall said.
But current and past CIA leaders are fighting back, trying to discredit the Democrats’ investigation of the harsh interrogation practices that were implemented in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America.
CIA officials are saying the Democrat report is a “one-sided study” that’s packed with errors.
Meanwhile, former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey is agreeing with the CIA. During his years in the Senate, Kerrey served on the same Intelligence Committee that released the report.
Kerrey writes in USA Today that the Senate report is unfair and incomplete, pointing out that “the Senate’s Intelligence Committee staff chose to interview no one.”
He added that contrary to what the Democrats claim, the controversial program did yield results.
“No one with real experience would claim it was the completely ineffective and superfluous effort this report alleges,” Kerrey said.
Meanwhile, the CIA has released its own report about the interrogations, to tell their side of the story.
