December 2, 2008 3:43:52 AM CST
(Newser) – The Bush administration gave its blessing in writing for the CIA to use waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques in two secret memos that have only now come to light, the Washington Post reveals. Intelligence officials sought to get something on paper in 2003—more than a year after the secret interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects began—to cover their backs in the event of public criticism, according to security sources.
Then-CIA director George Tenet asked for and received approval for harsh interrogation techniques again in 2004 as the controversy over abuse of Abu Ghraib prisoners erupted. Officials uneasy with the techniques gave their approval after being "boxed-in" by CIA warnings of imminent attacks, according to one source familiar with the meetings. "History will not judge us kindly," then-Attorney General John Ashcroft said after hearing details of the interrogation program.
Source Washington Post
Nov 26, 08 4:46 AM CST Barack Obama's top intelligence adviser and his first choice for CIA director has withdrawn his name from consideration, the Los Angeles Times reports. John Brennan, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, was branded by some liberal groups as a proponent of the harsh interrogation techniques used against terrorist suspects during the Bush administration. Brennan insists he opposed such techniques. More »
May 21, 08 12:02 PM CDT A man arrested in Pakistan and held as an enemy combatant in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay was hung from the ceiling, beaten, and shocked with jolts of electricity, he testified to Congress yesterday. The German-born Turkish citizen told lawmakers that US interrogators also forced water down his throat. He was released without charge after nearly 5 years in custody. More »
May 9, 08 6:30 AM CDT A federal judge has ordered the CIA to release a 2002 memo believed to outline interrogation methods that may amount to torture. The ACLU, which brought the suit sparking the order, claims that the memo details harsh interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, and calls it "one of the most important torture documents still being withheld by the Bush administration." The judge will decide whether to make the memo public on Monday, reports Reuters. More »
May 7, 08 10:13 AM CDT Whether a key Dick Cheney aide can be forced to testify is at the heart of a pending blow-up between Congress and the White House over a probe into interrogation techniques, Reuters reports. The House Judiciary Committee plans to subpoena Cheney's chief of staff, David Addington—but the vice president insists Addington, a key interrogation-policy player, can't be forced to testify. More »
Mar 28, 08 9:24 AM CDT The CIA's decision to destroy interrogation videotapes to save itself legal trouble is backfiring in a big way, the New York Times reports. Lawyers for more than a dozen detainees have filed challenges citing the destruction of evidence, putting terrorism cases on shaky ground and jeopardizing future prosecutions as well, the Times notes. More »
The CIA had the White House boxed in. They were saying, 'It's the only way to get the information we needed, and, by the way, we think there's another attack coming up. - An administration source
George W. Bush • CIA • torture • waterboarding • interrogation techniques • interrogation • John Ashcroft • terror suspects • harsh interrogation • George J. Tenet
