Waterboard me worry.
CIA 'does not torture prisoners' ( people torture prisoners!? )
From correspondents in Washington on November 21, 2005
CIA interrogators strictly obey laws against torture, but at times use "unique and innovative ways" to gather information from prisoners, Director Porter Goss said in an interview published today.
"This agency does not do torture. Torture does not work," Mr Goss said to USA Today. "We use lawful capabilities to collect vital information, and we do it in a variety of unique and innovative ways, all of which are legal and none of which are torture." The CIA must put "a lot of judgment in the hands of individuals overseas" within legal requirements, Mr Goss said, in what was his first interview since a heated fight this month between President George W. Bush's administration and the Republican-controlled Senate on restricting interrogations.
The agency officially is neutral on the proposal by Republican Senator John McCain, to ban "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of detainees by CIA or military officers, Mr Goss said.
But he made clear that techniques that would be restricted under Senator McCain's plan have yielded meaningful intelligence.
"An enemy that's working in an amorphous network that doesn't have to worry about a bunch of regulations, chain of command, rule of law or anything else has got a huge advantage over a stultified, slow-moving, bureaucratic, by-the-book" organisation, Mr Goss said.
"So we have to, within the law and within all the requirements of our professional ethics in this profession, develop agility. And that means putting a lot of judgment in the hands of individuals overseas," he said to the daily.
In the interview in his office in Virginia, outside Washington, on Friday, Mr Goss "declined to describe interrogation methods exclusive to the CIA," the report said.
Likewise he "declined to discuss reports by The Washington Post and Human Rights Watch alleging that the CIA maintains secret detention centres at military bases in Central European countries. He said media leaks about allies helping the CIA in capturing and interrogating detainees may provoke reprisal terrorist attacks," the paper said.
Co-operation from international allies is key, Mr Goss said.
"I don't have any arrest authority overseas. If you want to disrupt a terrorist, you've got to have local law enforcement help you," he said.
The torture issue grabbed more attention with The Washington Post reporting that the CIA was interrogating captured al-Qaeda operatives at secret prisons in eastern Europe, Afghanistan, Thailand and elsewhere.
Senator McCain's legislation cleared the US Senate last month. To become law, the House of Representatives would have to approve it and the president sign it.
Vice-President Dick Cheney and other top officials in Mr Bush's administration have argued that US interrogators must be granted flexibility when questioning terrorist suspects.
Mr Bush has pledged to veto an entire defense spending bill if it contains Senator McCain's amendment that would outlaw torture and cruel, inhumane treatment of detainees. END
'...An enemy that's working in an amorphous network that doesn't have to worry about a bunch of regulations, chain of command, rule of law or anything else has got a huge advantage over a stultified, slow-moving, bureaucratic, by-the-book" organisation...'
Mmm... they do have some intelligence.
From correspondents in Washington on November 21, 2005
CIA interrogators strictly obey laws against torture, but at times use "unique and innovative ways" to gather information from prisoners, Director Porter Goss said in an interview published today.
"This agency does not do torture. Torture does not work," Mr Goss said to USA Today. "We use lawful capabilities to collect vital information, and we do it in a variety of unique and innovative ways, all of which are legal and none of which are torture." The CIA must put "a lot of judgment in the hands of individuals overseas" within legal requirements, Mr Goss said, in what was his first interview since a heated fight this month between President George W. Bush's administration and the Republican-controlled Senate on restricting interrogations.
The agency officially is neutral on the proposal by Republican Senator John McCain, to ban "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of detainees by CIA or military officers, Mr Goss said.
But he made clear that techniques that would be restricted under Senator McCain's plan have yielded meaningful intelligence.
"An enemy that's working in an amorphous network that doesn't have to worry about a bunch of regulations, chain of command, rule of law or anything else has got a huge advantage over a stultified, slow-moving, bureaucratic, by-the-book" organisation, Mr Goss said.
"So we have to, within the law and within all the requirements of our professional ethics in this profession, develop agility. And that means putting a lot of judgment in the hands of individuals overseas," he said to the daily.
In the interview in his office in Virginia, outside Washington, on Friday, Mr Goss "declined to describe interrogation methods exclusive to the CIA," the report said.
Likewise he "declined to discuss reports by The Washington Post and Human Rights Watch alleging that the CIA maintains secret detention centres at military bases in Central European countries. He said media leaks about allies helping the CIA in capturing and interrogating detainees may provoke reprisal terrorist attacks," the paper said.
Co-operation from international allies is key, Mr Goss said.
"I don't have any arrest authority overseas. If you want to disrupt a terrorist, you've got to have local law enforcement help you," he said.
The torture issue grabbed more attention with The Washington Post reporting that the CIA was interrogating captured al-Qaeda operatives at secret prisons in eastern Europe, Afghanistan, Thailand and elsewhere.
Senator McCain's legislation cleared the US Senate last month. To become law, the House of Representatives would have to approve it and the president sign it.
Vice-President Dick Cheney and other top officials in Mr Bush's administration have argued that US interrogators must be granted flexibility when questioning terrorist suspects.
Mr Bush has pledged to veto an entire defense spending bill if it contains Senator McCain's amendment that would outlaw torture and cruel, inhumane treatment of detainees. END
'...An enemy that's working in an amorphous network that doesn't have to worry about a bunch of regulations, chain of command, rule of law or anything else has got a huge advantage over a stultified, slow-moving, bureaucratic, by-the-book" organisation...'
Mmm... they do have some intelligence.
posted by professor rat at 4:01 AM
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