THE CIA IMPUNITY CHALLENGE

The intelligence agency and the White House are holding hostage the truth a out torture

Then!President George W" #ush and then$CIA %irector George Tenet at the agency&s

head'uarters in Langley( )a"( in *++," Pa lo Martine- Monsi.ais/AP! March ,0( *+,1 The White House and the CIA are currently engaged in an unrelenting battle to cover up the George W. Bush administrations torture program and to maintain a system of impunity for hat are obvious ar crimes. !isturbingly" they are even illing to brea# the la $ again $ to in that battle.

The historic testimony given by %en. !ianne &einstein" !'Calif." on the %enate floor on (arch )) laid bare the efforts of the Central Intelligence Agency to bloc# the publication of a *"+,,'page investigation by the %enate Intelligence Committee into the Bush'era interrogation program. %he accused the CIA of violating both statutory la s and the Constitution.

The committee" chaired by &einstein" began a comprehensive revie of the post'-.)) detention and interrogation program in /,,-. As part of the investigation" the CIA as compelled to provide the committee and its staff ith all relevant documents.

At some point during the investigation" the CIA 0uietly hac#ed into the computer net or# established specifically for the in0uiry and removed about )",,, pages of documents" including an internal CIA revie of the torture program that as conducted hile 1eon 2anetta as its director. When 0uestioned" the CIA claimed the White House ordered the files removed" hich the White House denied.

This breech of the computer net or# indicates not only that the CIA violated its agreement ith the %enate committee and then lied about it but also that it acted independently of White House orders" all in an attempt to hide information about the torture and interrogation program.

The still classified %enate study reportedly reveals gruesome details of torture and concludes" contrary to CIA claims" that so'called enhanced interrogation methods did not generate valuable intelligence.

The CIA has maintained that the report cannot be declassified because of significant factual errors and misleading 3udgments4 this is a curious contention" as the internal 2anetta revie largely conforms to the committees conclusions.

2%ome of these important parts that the CIA no disputes in our committee study are clearly ac#no ledged in the CIAs o n internal 2anetta revie "5 &einstein e6plained. 7To say the least" this is pu88ling. Ho can the CIA9s official response to our study

stand factually in conflict ith its o n internal revie :5

&einstein also revealed that the CIAs general counsel $ ho played an important part in the torture program and ho is 7mentioned by name more than )"*,, times5 in the committee study $ told the !epartment of ;ustice that %enate staff committed a crime by reading the 2anetta revie . &einstein said she believes this as an attempt to 7intimidate5 the committee and sabotage the investigation.

While its unli#ely the CIA ill face penalties for this intimidation" &einsteins testimony may help tip the balance in favor of declassifying the %enate revie .

The CIA shares blame for obstructing the %enate investigation ith the White House. !espite repeated statements that he supports the release of the committees report" 2resident Barac# <bama" in the face of CIA ob3ections" has refused to declassify it. The shameful effort to intimidate Congress and hide the truth from the American people will, if successful, extend that impunity into the foreseeable future. In addition" <bama has been unilaterally ithholding 7more than -",,, top'secret documents5 from the %enate in0uiry" (cClatchy reported on (arch )/. These 7are separate5 from documents that &einstein referred to. The content of these documents is un#no n" but one can only imagine hat they reveal. %uch unscrupulous secrecy is contrary to the promises of transparency and accountability that drove then'candidate <bama to the White House in /,,=.

2These documents certainly raise the specter that the White House has been involved in stone alling the investigation"5 >li8abeth Goitein of ?@A 1a %chools Brennan Center for ;ustice told (cClatchy.

The coordinated attempts to cover up the controversial program should surprise no one" given hat is at sta#e.

In /,,B the International Committee for the Ced Cross concluded D2!&E that the

treatment endured by detainees in CIA custody 7amounted to torture5 and constituted ar crimes.

!etainees ere sub3ected to aterboarding" forced nudity" severe beatings" sleep deprivation and e6posure to e6treme temperatures. The CIA hired a former military psychologist" ;ames (itchell" to oversee much of this sadistic treatment. He is reported to have advised that a detainee should be treated 7li#e a dog in a cage.5

(any people had their heads smashed into alls4 they ere shac#led in e6tremely painful stress positions4 they ere loc#ed in tiny bo6es ith restricted airflo 4 they ere chained by collars around the nec# and beaten. An estimated ),, detainees ere tortured to death.

By /,,F" appro6imately +",,, individuals had been captured by the CIA. %ince the program as secret" captured suspects ere almost never formally charged and ere deprived of due process.

This inevitably led to a glut of hat ere called erroneous renditions" in hich the CIA abducted and tortured innocent people. 7They pic#ed up the rong people" ho had no information"5 a CIA official told the Washington 2ost in /,,F.

Aside from the hideous details of this inhumane treatment" the torture program has a legacy of conse0uences that e6tend far beyond individual detainee abuse.

Ibn al'%hei#h al'1ibi" an Al'Gaeda suspect in the custody of the CIA in /,,)" as transferred to >gypt to be brutally tortured. After being loc#ed in a small cage for more than =, hours and severely beaten by >gyptian authorities" 1ibi confessed to having #no ledge of senior Al'Gaeda leaders meeting ith Ira0i officials for training in the development and use of eapons of mass destruction.

The Bush administration used this coerced confession in its propaganda campaign to

boost support for invading Ira0. In a /,,/ speech" Bush announced" 7Weve learned that Ira0 has trained Al'Gaeda members in bomb ma#ing and poisons and deadly gases.5 ThenH%ecretary of %tate Colin 2o ell used this information in his infamously fla ed speech at the Anited ?ations.

1ibi later recanted his so'called confession. In /,,* the %enate Intelligence Committee released a study" hich reported that 1ibi 7lied I to avoid torture.5

Torture produced ildly distorted intelligence that as then used as evidence to 3ustify an unnecessary ar that #illedhalf a million Ira0is and almost F",,, Americans and has cost trillions of dollars.

The people responsible for these crimes" including those in the CIA" have been shielded from investigation and prosecution for too long. The shameful effort to intimidate Congress and hide the truth from the American people ill" if successful" e6tend that impunity into the foreseeable future. Instead" <bama should agree to the full declassification of the %enate in0uiry and fully comply ith hatever criminal investigations arise out of such disclosures. John Glaser is a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C. He has been published in The Washington Times, Al Jazeera nglish, the Huffington !ost, The American Conser"ati"e and The Dail# Caller, among other publications. The "ie$s e%pressed in this article are the author&s o$n and do not necessaril# reflect Al Jazeera America&s editorial polic#.