THE TORTURE REPORT: A COMMENTARY BY AN AMERICAN

American soldier prepare for deployment in 2004

EDITORIAL
By Rev. Jim Purcell

In December, 2014, 525 pages worth of an "executive summary" was published, which is supposed to represent a 6,000-page, in-depth study about the Detention and Interrogation Program the CIA operated between 2001-2006. It was published by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The larger report is classified, and no doubt will be until doom's crack.

Millions of pages of materials were examined by the SSCI. And, according to nearly every decent reference out there, the Obama Administration and the CIA have done little to actually assist this investigation. Yes, they've talked it but they sure as Hell haven't walked it.

There were allegations the CIA attempted to hack the SSCI computer network used during the investigation. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, was pretty sure the CIA did it. At the end of the day, that too was covered up by the CIA and the Justice Department. Then there is Obama, the supposed "Good Guy" who "fights for the people" and all that. Well, he used executive privilege to hold back documents and other materials requested specifically by the SSCI. Why? Because those documents would 'clear' the CIA?

I doubt it. I doubt it very much.


Ft. Bragg's "Iron Mike" embodies America's ideals

Everyone is walking around on egg shells here about what is hitting everyone in the face: The CIA used "enhanced interrogation techniques" -- torture -- on detainees. And, they didn't actually get anymore information from detainees than they would have if they had been using conventional tenants allowed under the Geneva and Hague Conventions, which we, as a nation, have been a party to since World War I.

American officials broke those tenants, though, purposefully and with malice. By definition, those are acts of war criminals. Anyone who exceeds what is allowed under the Geneva and Hague Conventions is, irrefutably, a war criminal. It appears we have quite a few of those hiding behind our stars and stripes now.

A moron could put together that innocent people do not destroy evidence, as CIA Clandestine Services chief Jose Rodriguez did when he destroyed 100 recordings of interrogations of detainees from 2005. President Barack Obama has used executive privilege to keep 9,400 pieces of evidence away from SSCI investigators. And, even the SSCI has balked at providing Americans, who paid for this failed Big Top from stem to stern, the full, unedited report of atrocities done in the name of this country by at least one of its agencies.

Well, here is where the commentary comes in: I am an American who has served my country in its uniform in peacetime and wartime. I love my country and what it stands for, and always have. I have spent my career fighting for causes like Civil Rights, Women's Rights and Peace when not in an Army uniform. And, I know what America should be and what it shouldn't be. The United States should never be a nation of evil, regardless of the enemy or the era, and the leaders of that dark time, President Bush and Vice President Cheney, presided over the destruction of our American ideals and wrapped a flag around it to shut people up. There are many people who will not shut up, and if I haven't shut up by now then I guess I'm not going to do that either.


A color guard of vets from the 82nd Abn Div. Assn.

We, as a nation, are the Great American Experiment in democracy and freedom -- still. And, if we are not that then we are nothing. If our nation has sunken to being similar to some sweaty, Third World banana republic then someone in power needs to send that memo to the people of this nation. Already, some of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines have, from what I have heard and seen, accepted that torture is OK because that is the generation they come from. Most don't and thank God for it. But, that contamination of spirit will be felt for years in our services, and not easily be turned to Right.

I served in an Army that was dedicated to freedom for our country and its neighbors. It observed the Geneva and Hague Conventions. My uncles served in that Army too, as did my father and his father. And, none of us were serving in the Mexican Marine Corps, where looting, murder and torture were 'just fine.' Years after I have left the military, I still salute our flag every morning and every evening. I do it not because I want to be some 'rah rah' guy; I do it out of respect for what America is supposed to mean. I salute for those who have served our nations and made terrible sacrifices. I salute the American flag because I still hear the words of our late President John F. Kennedy talking about our nation as a "City on the Hill." I salute the flag because I took an oath when I entered the service, and to me it has no time-stamp or expiration. America is a place where intelligence, reason, strength, determination and peace is emblazoned onto our hearts, or should be. When we must fight a war, we do it with all resolve in the name of freedom or defense.

On Main Street, USA

None of this affair is consistent with any of the principles of the nation I grew up under and served, of the nation I love still and always shall. I hear this era's wartime vets today talking about how this was a "different war." Well, my ass it was. If you look back through the trenches of World War I, the global war throughout the planet in World War II, the nightmares that were Korea and Vietnam, among others, these were not walks in the park. Still, though, our nation managed to stay our nation through these trials by fire -- still America represented what our Founders stood for, and what every American since them have stood for.

Only now, because of their majesties King George of America and Prince Cheney has the American dream been disfigured, mangled and turned into a mockery of its once glorious self. And, every official that supports not being open and honest about the events from 2001-2006 as part of the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program stand against the echoes of real American patriots who have sacrificed so much for our land. Yes, that means President Obama is in the wrong here too.

If there is not an actual accountability of what happened, when it happened and who was involved then justice has not been served. I say our nation stop thinking about what the damn world thinks and clean our house clear of the traitors who sanctioned and operated this criminal program within the CIA.

I say to hell with pleasantries. No one is above the law, or no one should be. If they are, and commit the despicable acts outlined in this report, then we, as a nation, have traveled far afield of what we once were.

I don't care a good goddamn about the detainees. They can all go to Hades for all I care. I do not speak in their defense, but in the defense of our nation, our homes, our ways of life. This abomination that has been visited upon our land, the torture of prisoners in direct contrast with the Geneva and Hague Conventions deserves being answered by courts of either this country or in the world.

As for the official air of government lackeys being jerks and calmly citing some self-indulgent law protecting wrong-doers in our government -- I say their lying should not rule the day, and it will certainly not win out in the Judgment.

(This is the second of a four-part series about "The Torture Report")

(Rev. James J. Purcell is a graduate of the New York Theological Seminary, in NYC. He is also a former Paratrooper and NCO who served within the U.S. Army's Intelligence Corps. As a journalist after the service, Rev. Purcell wrote for several daily newspapers in the state, and formerly published the weekly Courier, in Monmouth County, NJ.)

THE TORTURE REPORT: Why It Began and the Investigation

By Rev. J.J. Purcell, MPS (Ret.)

The full 6,000-page study by the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) regarding the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program and its use of so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" is classified. It is known that the study focuses on the agency's actions regarding torture on detainees between 2001-2006.

Yet, the SSCI cleared the release of a 525-page portion of the report on Dec. 9, 2014. The un-classified document reports important findings and an "executive summary" of not only the system of mistreatment to detainees by the CIA, but also the shortcomings of the detention project in its entirety. The actual release of the report came eight months after the SSCI voted to release parts of the full report for public consumption, while agreeing to keep the remainder of the report inaccessible to the public.

The report is estimated to have taken five years and $40 million to complete. There were 6 million pages of documents, e-mails, and other materials from the CIA examined in preparation for the report. In addition, the CIA was asked for 9,400 additional classified documents by the SSCI. However, those documents were never handed over to the committee and, in fact, were blocked by the Obama Administration, which cited executive privilege regarding those materials.

On March 5, 2009, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted 14-1 to open an investigation pertaining to the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program. By August of that year, the Republican Minority on the SSCI concluded that many witnesses were unlikely to participate in the investigation for fear of criminal liability. As a result, the Republican Minority on the committee withdrew from the investigation in September, 2009.

What started the whole "Torture Report" idea was, according to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, when CIA Director of Clandestine Services Jose Rodriguez was discovered to have destroyed 100 video recordings of interrogations made during the year 2005. Consequently, the SSCI was suspicious he was in the midst of covering up illegal activities by the CIA. This is despite the fact the CIA initially told the SSCI that the agency was not trying to destroy evidence. Of some note, on Dec. 5, 2014, Rodriguez preemptively criticized the report in the Washington Times.

The final report was approved by the SSCI on December 13, 2012, by a vote of 9-6, with seven Democrats, one Independent and one Republican voting in favor of the publication of the report. Meanwhile, opposed to releasing the report were six Republicans, who voted in a bloc. Later, on April 3, 2014, the SSCI voted 11-3 to create a revised version of the executive summary, findings and recommendations. Thus, the 525-page unclassified document was born and released on Dec. 9, 2014.

What had initially bothered the Republican bloc on the SSCI was the lack of hearings on the dealing of the CIA between 2001-2006. However, in 2008, the Senate Armed Services Committee had launched its own investigation into the treatment of detainees in U.S. military custody. This included 70 in-person interviews, responses to questionnaires by 200 people, as well as two hearings. Accordingly, the results of that investigation were incorporated into the larger SSCI report.

Where did the $40 million figure come from? According to the CIA, $40 million worth of personnel time and resources were sacrificed in order to cooperate with SSCI during the making of the report. In addition to using agency personnel already hired, CIA officials said they had to hire additional people to assist the investigation as well. This included the construction of a dedicated facility for the CIA, where documents were reviewed prior to them being turned over to the SSCI for examination.

When the SSCI's report was made public, the six members of the Republican bloc also issued their own, 167-page document that, essentially, discussed what is wrong with the study as a whole.

THE SSCI, CIA CONFRONT EACH OTHER

On March 11, 2014, Feinstein stated the CIA unlawfully searched SSCI's computers to determine how the committee staff obtained review documents.

Earlier that year, CIA officials claimed the SSCI had accessed review documents and removed them from CIA facilities in 2010 without agency authorization. Meanwhile, Feinstein, chair of the SSCI, confirmed copies of portions of that review had been removed and transferred to the Senate's Hart Office Building because, previously, Rodriguez had destroyed evidence depicting brutal methods of interrogation used by the CIA in 2005, relative to the investigation.

Feinstein also stated CIA Acting General Counsel Robert Eatinger requested the FBI to begin a criminal inquiry into the SSCI's staff behavior. Feinstein interpreted this as an attempt to intimidate her committee. She noted that Eatinger was one of the lawyers who had approved the destruction of the tapes previously, by Rodriguez. In addition, his name was mentioned 1,600 times in the SSCI's report.

 However, on July 31, 2014, the CIA confirmed it had improperly gained access to the SSCI's computer network. Meanwhile, a Justice Dept. spokesperson confirmed their organization would not be pursuing charges into the incident. An internal review panel assembled by CIA Director John O. Brennan defended the searches and noted they were lawful and sometimes done at the behest of Brennan himself.

SOME REACTIONS TO THE REPORT

On Dec. 14, 2014, the Los Angeles Times printed a report stating that former Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney said he would agree to enhanced interrogation techniques all over again. Cheney disparaged the report and allegedly characterized it as a cheap shot.

Meanwhile, on Dec. 22, 2014, the NY Times Editorial Board demanded criminal prosecution of Cheney relative to the CIA's detention and interrogation program.

CIA Director Brennan defended the results of the program and stated that imposition of enhanced interrogation techniques assisted in keeping Americans safe. However, there is some qualified speculation about whether or not President George Bush was apprised of the CIA's actions.

Feinstein and a majority of Democratic lawmakers in Washington, DC are loudly condemning the CIA's actions during the Bush Administration, while the majority of support for the former administration's position on enhanced interrogation techniques is emanating from Senate and Congressional Republicans.

The future remains unclear about what exactly will happen regarding abuses outlined in the SSCI's report. Feinstein said she hopes the report will remain a reminder of what happened so it shall never happen again. However, there is a report that CIA may be making internal changes, which may not be reported to the public. In the meantime, some areas of criticism remain agitating for criminal proceedings against those found culpable for CIA excesses.

This is the first of a four-part series about "The Torture Report"

(Rev. Jim Purcell is a graduate of the NY Theological Seminary. He is a U.S. Army veteran who served in the Intelligence Corps during the 1980s. He is also a retired journalist who has worked for Dorf Features, exclusive to The Star-Ledger, as well as The Jersey Journal, both in New Jersey. To contact me, e-mail me at faith.writer@live.com.)