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CIA Kept Prisoners Alive So It Could Torture More

Abuse 'sickening': human-rights lawyer

By Will McCahill| Posted Oct 28, 09 9:37 PM CDT|

(Newser) – Detainees tortured to the brink of death were sometimes given medical treatment to keep them alive so CIA operatives could torture them further, a human-rights lawyer alleges. “The CIA engaged in some horrendous abuses, but they appear to have taken precautions to have actually prevented people from dying—which might sound humanitarian, but in fact was kind of sickening,” John Sifton tells Russia Today.

Sifton says the CIA and US military intelligence ran parallel programs, with the CIA’s more secretive and the military’s more careless: “The military subjected a lot of people to the same techniques, but without the precautions, and as a result a large number of detainees in military custody died.” Meanwhile, the CIA program “only had a few dozen detainees at any given time—but it’s the one that saw the biggest abuses, the most serious forms of torture.”

A protester. (Wikiemedia Commons)

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46 comments

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yummines
Oct 28, 09 9:45 PM CDT

really? did the CIA really fall to using torture as if it is a Soviet KGB? someone really needs to do something about this... Reply

IN RESPONSE:

logothete
Oct 28, 09 10:24 PM CDT

Yum, do you EVER know what you're talking about? Looks as though you just have a few pre-programmed comparisons that you trot out at random. WTF do you think you've said?

-1

IN RESPONSE:

yummines
Oct 28, 09 11:09 PM CDT

half the time i do. i wrote this while eating so i probably had half a mind about it. However you should at least agree that the CIA using torture near the brink of death then reviving them so that they can torture them some more is not exactly a very good thing. And I'm just a poorly informed high school kid, of course i don't know what i'm talking about *sarcasm* however i now do realize what i said, i compared the CIA torturing people constantly to Soviet KGB. are you telling me that torture has nothing to do with the KGB or that the CIA was justified in doing that compared to the tyrannical Soviet government. I doubt you are stating that but please, state what i said was stupid so i can learn from it. If i said something really stupid please at least tell me, instead of just saying that i have a one-track mind and just leaving it at that. but hey, its just a comment so i don't take it so seriously, and you shouldn't either.

IN RESPONSE:

deebles
Oct 29, 09 3:04 AM CDT

The CIA has used Soviet -style torture since its inception. The CIA is willing to do anything to keep this country a free market system--get that? You know why? Cause they are all the elite that you will never be, making money from information that you will never get. The CIA does it for money--the GRU and the KGB did it for the state. Wow--aren't we better--National Fruit Company--learn your world. You've been as indoctrinated as any Soviet --we killed the leaders of-- South Vietnam, Guatemala, Malaysia, the Congo, Haiti and Argentina. That's all I can spell--but, we are so not the Soviets. At least the people in the Soviet Union knew that their government was crap--you live on the moon. But, we never charged for the bullet in the head. Well, we are a capitalistic system--they charged you for the bullet. Taxes.

IN RESPONSE:

deebles
Oct 29, 09 3:26 AM CDT

I leave this place very happy that yummines, a high school kid eating a sandwich is a better writer and thinker than most here. That is our future and we should all be beholden. Thank you yummines. If there are more of you then I might get my social security. Well, not that but at least my medicare. And if not that at least not nuclear winter, which is the closest we've been since '62. You guys forget that we gave Pakistan all those nukes to win the war over Russia. What do you think this thing is all about? Like we care about how the Taliban treats people--some dumb fuck in the eighties--who could that be gave them some nukes and now we have to be there forever to protect them. READ A BOOK!!!! I can barely come here any more because the width and depth of the ignorance here is almost overwhelming. My brother-in-in law West Point, Ranger, Helicopter pilot for Patraous in the nineties and fell into the NSA and CIA never to be heard from again, told me seven years ago that we are doomed. The nice thing about the cold war is that it kept everything cold--now we have a very warm war. But, hey, keep watching Beck and whomever is his opposite on the opposite channel. It will keep you busy while your eyeballs melt.. To yummines--very sorry that we did not give you the world that got handed to us. I wouldn't worry about that student loan.

IN RESPONSE:

kokuaguy
Oct 29, 09 8:48 PM CDT

Your careless post resulted in a discussion here that might not otherwise have occurred, yummi. But I did initially read into it the opposite of what you intended. Rather than inquiring (albeit in and abrupt and perhaps insensitive way as logo did) I'd probably have just thumbed you down and moved on. Now I'll go to your posts and see if Deebs's assessment of your skills and intellect is one that I share. But in any case, keep posting. Writing in any format is something those your age should try to do as often as you can. And newser can definitely benefit from the contributions of those who share your youthful perspective and curiosity. By the way, I miss 2-bits.

IN RESPONSE:

DJM420
Oct 29, 09 10:23 PM CDT

i second kokua on that. all of it

| 0 minutes ago

rajanKazhmin
Oct 28, 09 10:19 PM CDT

Thank you, GOP. Way to make the world better. Dicks. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Wonka
Oct 28, 09 10:42 PM CDT

Yes, this is the legacy of the GOP, Cheney, et al. This is what you've got to hang your hat on righties! Gotta make ya proud!

IN RESPONSE:

freethemall
Oct 28, 09 11:09 PM CDT

"farting words to enjoy the smell" LOL. That"s a good one, logothete.

IN RESPONSE:

Spudsy
Oct 28, 09 11:11 PM CDT

To a good portion of their supporters, this is not a bad thing. When you suck up to one religion, it never hurts to hurt another religion. That's how those things work. Actually, to a believer, a little torture on earth is nothing compared to the eternity in hell that the bible condemns non-believers to.

IN RESPONSE:

JimW
Oct 29, 09 12:46 AM CDT

Especially to one DICK in particular...

| 0 minutes ago

freethemall
Oct 28, 09 10:20 PM CDT

If this is true, I find it very disturbing. That our enemies have followed the same practices, does NOT, excuse this. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

cornelison
Oct 28, 09 10:45 PM CDT

So much for the "civilized world."

| 0 minutes ago

Jayster999
Oct 28, 09 10:24 PM CDT

This comment has been removed by Newser’s community. Reply

-13

IN RESPONSE:

logothete
Oct 28, 09 10:25 PM CDT

You too Jay? What the hell does your "comment" have to do with anything? Are you just farting words to enjoy the smell?

IN RESPONSE:

Jayster999
Oct 28, 09 10:38 PM CDT

This comment has been removed by Newser’s community.

-10

IN RESPONSE:

Galileo
Oct 28, 09 10:45 PM CDT

Danger: Now entering Tinfoil Hatsville. Beware of moon landing studios and FEMA concentration camps disguised as Disney World.

IN RESPONSE:

logothete
Oct 28, 09 10:49 PM CDT

Jay - let ME elaborate for you, since reading doesn't seem to be your strong point. This is not a NEW "policy" - we're talking about a basic war crime that happened under the - wait for it - BUSH administration. Get it yet? Bush. Not Obama. Or don't you understand the past tense? Should I repeat? Or would you like me to draw you some nice little pictures? See, here's the detainee bunny, and he's being made all whoopsie -do by the nassy old CIA porcupine. That's him, hiding behind the Shrub .... BTW, great vocabulary you almost have there!

IN RESPONSE:

Jayster999
Oct 28, 09 10:58 PM CDT

This comment has been removed by Newser’s community.

-8

IN RESPONSE:

Galileo
Oct 28, 09 11:03 PM CDT

Your fear mongering and conspiracy theories speak more to yours.

IN RESPONSE:

Doctor_Supercilious
Oct 28, 09 11:05 PM CDT

Jay, please, please, please for the sake of humanity; pull your head out of your ass. Thank you.

IN RESPONSE:

Jayster999
Oct 28, 09 11:09 PM CDT

This comment has been removed by Newser’s community.

-6

IN RESPONSE:

Galileo
Oct 28, 09 11:25 PM CDT

I'd love to see the facts that prove the NEW WORLD ORDER is coming. What a joke. Your "theories" are rooted in xenophobia and social conservativism. The "rights" you are afraid you'll lose is code for "biblical dominance." In other words, if your country is no longer a "christian nation" you have lost your rights. You believe a government moving in a progressive, scientific and intellectual direction is a moral corruption. You see progress towards stronger global relationships as a conspiracy to make us all robots. And you're so close-minded you can't see how much contradiction there between what you say and what is happening. Our administration is surely on the path to despotism as it fights for health care for everyone, tries to close Guantanamo Bay, and pursues diplomacy before war. So just to recap, all of those value human rights and human life over SCARY POWER WOOOO SCARY.

IN RESPONSE:

ultramarine13
Oct 29, 09 12:08 AM CDT

Jay, until the day you actually something resembling proof, your theories, which are just that, will remain among the company of David Icke and the people who claim to have been abducted by aliens. Until that time, your sophomoric tirades grate on those of use who see the world using logic and facts. So please do us a favor and either educate yourself about the world outside of your house or simply cease and desist.

IN RESPONSE:

JimW
Oct 29, 09 12:49 AM CDT

Wouldn't work here. Never does work well with an armed population, and we are armed to the teeth. ;-)

IN RESPONSE:

JimW
Oct 29, 09 12:54 AM CDT

Wouldn't work here. Never works well against an armed population, and I don't believe our own troops would fire on their own citizens. Maybe a few hotshots, but as a general rule, I just can't see it.

IN RESPONSE:

stavi82
Oct 29, 09 3:26 PM CDT

Jaster's just a god damned idiot. Stop feeding the troll, ladies and gentlemen. Just rank down his comments without reading them because it will rot your brain worse than Saw movies.

| 0 minutes ago

cornelison
Oct 28, 09 10:27 PM CDT

I've read more than 40 books on the holocaust. These are death experiments. It's especially disturbing to believe that this is still the tip of the ice berg. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

George_Taylor
Oct 28, 09 11:20 PM CDT

I simply wish that any findings from these 'experiments' get published and used for good (from both the Holocaust and American camps)

-3

| 0 minutes ago

Netstorm2k10
Oct 28, 09 10:36 PM CDT

Really? You guys are surprised? I thought this was common knowledge. Waterboarding, hello? You act as if you're just learning about it. Anytime you torture you're going to have this situation where they pass out to get away from it, and sometimes they pass on into death. That's what the medical is for, to keep them going. They've been doing this for years. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

freethemall
Oct 28, 09 11:15 PM CDT

Doesn't make it right.

IN RESPONSE:

Guava_Jelly
Oct 28, 09 11:45 PM CDT

You mean before BUSH we did this? We can't just blame him without knowing the facts? Where's the logic in that?

-1

| 0 minutes ago

tbooker
Oct 28, 09 11:13 PM CDT

There are some things that are done to keep us safe that we do not have the need to know......I suppose it would have been better if we'd just chopped their heads off like they do to their captives.......Whatever it takes to allow me to sleep safely at night just do it and don't tell me about it. Reply

-4

IN RESPONSE:

Galileo
Oct 28, 09 11:36 PM CDT

The problem is that sometimes they do it to innocent people. And intelligence gathered through torture is usually unreliable. You'd probably say anything to stop someone from pulling your finger nails out.

IN RESPONSE:

passinthru
Oct 29, 09 12:13 AM CDT

absolutely Galileo, in a sense even in near death experiences its not only what you know but who you know...under this is known as the patriot act...and we let it slip by us like an albino in a snowball fight. i feel sorry for all the innocents they DID torture to get the info that theyve been using...

IN RESPONSE:

ultramarine13
Oct 29, 09 12:18 AM CDT

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Title quote from An Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania, attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Which frankly says it all. Aside from Galileo's point about the reliability of intel gained through torture, there is the moral aspect, which says it is plain wrong. Those who continue to support its use are those stuck in the Dark Ages; it should have no place in the modern world.

IN RESPONSE:

Guava_Jelly
Oct 29, 09 12:19 AM CDT

Say, just for argument sake, a document existed which outlined every form of US torture performed under each US President in our nation's history. Should this be made public knowledge? CAUTION to the uninformed above (who have already been called out BUT worth noting again), torture has occured under other administration's besides Bush & the GOP, regardless of what Keith Olbermann told you.

-4

IN RESPONSE:

Galileo
Oct 29, 09 12:41 AM CDT

That's a stupid hypothetical. I assume you're trying to make a point about it not being good for us to air our dirty laundry. Well there's a clear difference between investigating torture that happened say 78 years ago and torture that happened last year. It's pretty simple. We're still fighting the war, and if stuff like that is happening, it needs to be exposed so we can stop it and do things the right way. Your "argument" is so idiotic I wish I could delete it from the page. Nice touch with the Olbermann comment though, you really had us fooled until you pulled that old chestnut out of your desk.

IN RESPONSE:

Guava_Jelly
Oct 29, 09 1:21 AM CDT

First of all, I'm not sure how ANY hypothetical can be "STUPID", but perhaps I'll leave that to another debate. Next, who said anything about not investigating torture and fixing the issue??? Please direct me to that part of my "STUPID" hypothetical. After doing these things, please do try and answer the question.

-4

IN RESPONSE:

Galileo
Oct 29, 09 1:46 AM CDT

Sorry I gave you too much credit. I thought you were using your hypothetical for the old "exposing the techniques used by the CIA makes us vulnerable" argument. I think instead you're going with the "YOU DUMB LIBERALS" one. It's not worth any more time. But, yes, hypotheticals can be stupid. Like yours. It's hard to tell what you're even getting at. A good hypothetical is a thought experiment that pushes you to think about an issue in a different way/realize a new component of that issue. You just ask a question that offers nothing useful in terms of what we should be thinking about. Your hypothetical fails to meet the purpose of a hypothetical and therefore is stupid. :)

IN RESPONSE:

Guava_Jelly
Oct 29, 09 2:38 AM CDT

Thanks for the definition of a hypothetical o'wise Galileo....you truly are this century's sage are you NOT??? I'm sure you researched that in the dictionary but here's something you probably omitted from Webster's...in order to "have a thought experiment that pushes you to think about an issue in a different way/realize a new component of that issue" you must answer the question then commence in debate- rather than declare "stupid" and "alternative motive"!!!

-2

| 0 minutes ago

DarkFrancis
Oct 28, 09 11:13 PM CDT

I thought I'd stepped into a time machine there for a sec and was reading news from a few years back. This is neither topical or surprising. The only thing that's worth commenting on here is the difference now between giggling behind one's hand at the tinfoil kook quasi-libertarian view of someone like Jayster...and openly laughing at them. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

cognitivefilter
Oct 29, 09 1:35 AM CDT

not that i condone torture, but i think it was the u.s. responsibility to prevent prisoners from dying, regardless of what happened after they were resuscitated. killing prisoners is a war crime no ? Reply

| 0 minutes ago

gsosbee
Oct 29, 09 1:50 PM CDT

pub a little truth,pls: fbi/cia world inhumane & murderous domination: http://www.sosbeevfbi.com/part4-worldinabo.html http://www.opednews.com/articles/US-Army-Lies-To-Our-Young-by-GERAL-SOSBEE-080929-134.html http://www.opednews.com/articles/USA-Military-Universal-Su-by-GERAL-SOSBEE-080915-75.html http://www.sosbeevfbi.com/proclamation.html http://www.sosbeevfbi.com/index.html http://roma.indymedia.org/printable/taxonomy/term/1549 QUESTIONS! GERAL SOSBEE (956)371-5210 http://sosbeevfbi.ning.com/video/the-future-war-robots Reply

| 0 minutes ago

needhelp
Oct 29, 09 9:00 PM CDT

| 0 minutes ago

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