Cheney, others OK'd harsh interrogations
WASHINGTON (AP) - April 11, 2008 The officials also took care to insulate President Bush from a
series of meetings where CIA interrogation methods, including
waterboarding, which simulates drowning, were discussed and
ultimately approved.
A former senior U.S. intelligence official familiar with the
meetings described them Thursday to the AP to confirm details first
reported by ABC News on Wednesday. The intelligence official spoke
on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly
discuss the issue.
Between 2002 and 2003, the Justice Department issued several
memos from its Office of Legal Counsel that justified using the
interrogation tactics, including ones that critics call torture.
"If you looked at the timing of the meetings and the memos
you'd see a correlation," the former intelligence official said.
Those who attended the dozens of meetings agreed that "there'd
need to be a legal opinion on the legality of these tactics"
before using them on al-Qaida detainees, the former official said.
The meetings were held in the White House Situation Room in the
years immediately following the Sept. 11 attacks. Attending the
sessions were then-Bush aides Attorney General John Ashcroft,
Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet and
national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.
The White House, Justice and State departments and the CIA
refused comment Thursday, as did a spokesman for Tenet. A message
for Ashcroft was not immediately returned.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., lambasted what he described as
"yet another astonishing disclosure about the Bush administration
and its use of torture."
"Who would have thought that in the United States of America in
the 21st century, the top officials of the executive branch would
routinely gather in the White House to approve torture?" Kennedy
said in a statement. "Long after President Bush has left office,
our country will continue to pay the price for his administration's
renegade repudiation of the rule of law and fundamental human
rights."
The American Civil Liberties Union called on Congress to
investigate.
"With each new revelation, it is beginning to look like the
torture operation was managed and directed out of the White
House," ACLU legislative director Caroline Fredrickson said.
"This is what we suspected all along."
The former intelligence official described Cheney and the top
national security officials as deeply immersed in developing the
CIA's interrogation program during months of discussions over which
methods should be used and when.
At times, CIA officers would demonstrate some of the tactics, or
at least detail how they worked, to make sure the small group of
"principals" fully understood what the al-Qaida detainees would
undergo. The principals eventually authorized physical abuse such
as slaps and pushes, sleep deprivation, or waterboarding. This
technique involves strapping a person down and pouring water over
his cloth-covered face to create the sensation of drowning.
The small group then asked the Justice Department to examine
whether using the interrogation methods would break domestic or
international laws.
"No one at the agency wanted to operate under a notion of winks
and nods and assumptions that everyone understood what was being
talked about," said a second former senior intelligence official.
"People wanted to be assured that everything that was conducted
was understood and approved by the folks in the chain of command."
The Office of Legal Counsel issued at least two opinions on
interrogation methods.
In one, dated Aug. 1, 2002, then-Assistant Attorney General Jay
Bybee defined torture as covering "only extreme acts" causing
pain similar in intensity to that caused by death or organ failure.
A second, dated March 14, 2003, justified using harsh tactics on
detainees held overseas so long as military interrogators did not
specifically intend to torture their captives.
Both legal opinions since have been withdrawn.
The second former senior intelligence official said rescinding
the memos caused the CIA to seek even more detailed approvals for
the interrogations.
The department issued another still-secret memo in October 2001
that, in part, sought to outline novel ways the military could be
used domestically to defend the country in the face of an impending
attack. The Justice Department so far has refused to release it,
citing attorney-client privilege, and Attorney General Michael
Mukasey declined to describe it Thursday at a Senate panel where
Democrats characterized it as a "torture memo."
Not all of the principals who attended were fully comfortable
with the White House meetings.
The ABC News report portrayed Ashcroft as troubled by the
discussions, despite agreeing that the interrogations methods were
legal.
"Why are we talking about this in the White House?" the
network quoted Ashcroft as saying during one meeting. "History
will not judge this kindly."
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Associated Press writer Pete Yost contributed to this report.
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On the Net:
CIA: https://www.cia.gov/
Office of Legal Counsel: http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/