Statement by the President Report of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence:
In the years after 9/11, with legitimate fears of further attacks and with the responsibility to prevent more catastrophic loss of life, the previous administration faced agonizing choices about how to pursue al Qaeda and prevent additional terrorist attacks against our country. As I have said before, our nation did many things right in those difficult years. At the same time, some of the actions that were taken were contrary to our values. That is why I unequivocally banned torture when I took office, because one of our most effective tools in fighting terrorism and keeping Americans safe is staying true to our ideals at home and abroad.
Today’s report by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence details one element of our nation’s response to 9/11—the CIA’s detention and interrogation program, which I formally ended on one of my first days in office. The report documents a troubling program involving enhanced interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects in secret facilities outside the United States, and it reinforces my long-held view that these harsh methods were not only inconsistent with our values as nation, they did not serve our broader counterterrorism efforts or our national security interests. Moreover, these techniques did significant damage to America’s standing in the world and made it harder to pursue our interests with allies and partners. That is why I will continue to use my authority as President to make sure we never resort to those methods again.
As Commander in Chief, I have no greater responsibility than the safety and security of the American people. We will therefore continue to be relentless in our fight against al Qaeda, its affiliates and other violent extremists. We will rely on all elements of our national power, including the power and example of our founding ideals. That is why I have consistently supported the declassification of today’s report. No nation is perfect. But one of the strengths that makes America exceptional is our willingness to openly confront our past, face our imperfections, make changes and do better. Rather than another reason to refight old arguments, I hope that today’s report can help us leave these techniques where they belong—in the past. Today is also a reminder that upholding the values we profess doesn’t make us weaker, it makes us stronger and that the United States of America will remain the greatest force for freedom and human dignity that the world has ever known.
Our Politicians have outed the Doctor who was authorized to conduct the interrogations.
The Politicians threw the man we paid under the bus.
He and the other interrogators were never called to testify!
He now has death threats. The police have called him and told him to “leave the house immediately.”
The releasing of this report was all about politics and as far as I am concerned, served no useful purpose..
Actually it’s proper to call the releasing of this skewed report,…
@bodacious
John McCain has turned into a rat. He isn’t even a good Republican.
The term RINO started with describing McCain.
John McCain knows the first thing about torture and service, I think his opinion on the matter is more relevant than yours.
You have proof of that?
John McCain – a Republican – said “The argument over whether torturing prisoners is an effective interrogation method (it’s not) is a distraction. He brushed off the debate about whether waterboarding, for example, is torture. “We convicted and hung Japanese war criminals for waterboarding Americans after World War II,” he said.
“The major question is it’s not about interrogation and what they got,” he said. “It’s not about – or the nature of our enemy. (con’t)
It’s about us and what kind of a country we were and what we are and what we will be.”
Mr. McCain said that the interrogation program violated the Geneva Convention’s protections for prisoners – “not prisoners of war, not battlefield, but prisoners.”
He was a prisoner of war himself. He knows.
I know more about being an American than you ever will.
Waterboarding back then and now are different, back then they were laying almost upright and their lungs would fill up with water which could drown them but now they are laid downward so their lungs will NOT fill up leaving NO damage to them but being uncomfortable.
LOL at this weak justification. How about you come over to my place and let me waterboard you? I’ll make sure and use the current method.
some units in the military train that way, how do you know that I haven’t already done that?
Because you haven’t
They should be so damn proud. The Democrats are throwing our CIA under the buss and feeling bad for the savages that are murdering children all over the world. They need to get their damn priority’s straight. The C.I.A. was doing their jobs and protecting Americans. They should take every one of the traitors that supported this report and deport them to Iran and let them live with the baby killers. My be is they would be on the news getting their heads cut off real soon.
I suppose it makes no difference to you that the torture generated very little, if any real information? False information gleaned from torture could do more harm to our soldiers than real intelligence. I agree that the Taliban / ISIS are horrible entities that need to be stopped but if a tactic isn’t working, it isn’t working.
@Left-That is a absolute lie. Every expert tat was involved in saving Americans (none of the liberals) have stated they prevented more attacks on our country. Get your facts straight or do not comment. Only the liberal liars are claiming that trying to justify their treason. The criminal report was nothing but a partisan attempt to divert attention from all the Obama scandles. Liberal;s are cry babies and cowards. Cowards end up getting killed in the end.
They want you to believe that the torture prevented more terrorist attacks because they are trying to justify war crimes. Most of the people tortured weren’t “terrorists” at all, they had no real information to give. They did however make up whatever we wanted to hear when we were rectally feeding them with milled up food. You would do the same to stop it. Torture may work on the right people but we had prisons full of the wrong people, this resulted in all kinds of misinformation.
Which do you consider torture, bamboo shoots under the fingernails, electric shocks, removing digits, beatings, cutting? Or keeping them from sleeping or washing their hair? The progressives have woosified our country.
Try going 11 days without sleeping and tell me that doesn’t feel like torture. The “woosification” of our country is such a hilarious argument. How about we civilize our country and quit acting like the savages you seem to despise? It’s so easy to be blinded with patriotism and not see all of the crap our country has done. Again, I’m not defending the terrorists, my point is that the torture netted more misinformation than credible.
Have you ever been in the military in a combat zone? You can go 3 or 4 days sleeping most of it away and then go days if not weeks with hardly any sleep. If they keep a terrorist awake for 2 weeks and then find out that terrorists have targeted a school or mall here in the states I say it is worth it, same goes for washing his hair. They are terrorists whose sole function is to KILL americans so screw them and screw anybody that wants us to apologize.
The democrats are the only ones that say they didn’t get any worthwhile information but excuse me if I don’t believe compulsive liars.
I’ve been suffering from a terribly torn and fissured back. I mean incredible amounts of stiffness, and surging shooting pain. I sneezed and it dropped me to my knees. I’ve been thinking of torture lately and how effective it could be at getting what you want from people. I don’t have any information that anyone would want, but if I did, I’d gladly give it over. I cannot imagine the full extent of types of pain available to torturers. It would be legendary.
It’s funny how you say Democrats are compulsive liars. Does that mean that every word uttered by a Republican is truth? Both parties lie to us in order to swing the perception in their favor. You party line nut jobs are no better than cultists.
I’m sure some useful information was gained from the torture, but all kinds of people not affiliated with terror groups were tortured, and gave misinformation to make it stop. Misinformation is worse than no info. A soldier should understand that.
Politicians lie, both parties lie only the republicans and independents feel bad when they do but the democrats feel nothing. Actually like I said both parties lie and can’t be trusted but it seems TO ME that the democrats enjoy it alittle too much. Just my opinion.
@Left-Just what the hell are our priories? Protecting these baby killing monsters or the American people? What is wrong with you that you would protect the monsters over American’s. That makes you a traitor in my book.
Most of the people who were tortured aren’t baby killing terrorists. You like to lump all Islamic or even brown people in one group, “terrorists”. They look and talk differently than you so they must be a terrorist, right? Racist old coot.
You prove to me that those interrogated were not terrorists and I would agree with you but if they were taken captive they they were either hanging out with the wrong people, then they would know something or they were terrorists and therefore would know something.
@Left-You idiot. You know nothing about “BROWN” people. I have lived in Mexico and am married to a Mexican. All of my children are half Mexican. I know more about brown people then you could ever imagine. What a putz you are.