Republicans divided over Senate torture report. Dick Cheney in the spotlight
Support for the Senate Intelligence Committee report on harsh interrogation of terrorist suspects has divided mostly along party lines. But within both parties there are dissenting voices as well.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney speaks at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington in 2009. Cheney has been very critical of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on harsh interrogation of terrorist suspects by the CIA.
Joshua Roberts/REUTERS
That the Senate Intelligence Committee report on torture has become a partisan document 鈥� and may have started out that way 鈥� is obvious.
When it鈥檚 mostly Democrats who signed the 6,700-page report on what the CIA calls 鈥渆nhanced interrogation techniques鈥� used to make suspected terrorists talk while Republicans issue a minority report critical of their colleagues鈥� efforts, that鈥檚 partisanship by definition.
But among Republicans, there are strong differences of opinion 鈥� both about the report and, more broadly, the use of harsh techniques to elicit what is known as 鈥渁ctionable intelligence鈥� that might thwart terrorist plots.
Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, who wrote speeches for former president Ronald Reagan, writes: 鈥淎merica should never again do what is asserted and outlined in the report, which enumerates various incidents of what I believe must honestly be called torture.鈥�
鈥淎merican policy should be to treat prisoners the way we would hope 鈥� with clear eyes, knowing it is a hope 鈥� our prisoners would be treated,鈥� Noonan asserts. 鈥淭he war we are engaged in is different, we know, and it is still going on and will be for some time, but it won鈥檛 help us fight it to become less like ourselves and more like those we oppose. Torture is not like us.鈥�
At the same time, she writes, the Senate report 鈥渋s believable but insufficient鈥� 鈥� mainly because CIA officers who planned, oversaw, and carried out the harsh interrogation of Al Qaeda suspects were not interviewed by Senate staff.
Democrats aren鈥檛 totally united regarding the report.
Former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D) of Nebraska lauds the work of Sen. John McCain (R) regarding torture.
Sen. McCain sponsored the聽Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, which prohibits 鈥渃ruel, inhuman or degrading treatment鈥� of captured combatants, whether they wear a nation鈥檚 uniform or not.
McCain also successfully offered amendments to the聽Military Commissions Act of 2006, which, among other things, prevented the attempt to weaken the Geneva Conventions, and broadened definitions in the聽War Crimes Act聽to make the future use of waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques punishable as war crimes.
But Sen. Kerrey (a Vietnam veteran and former US Navy SEAL team leader who was awarded the Medal of Honor), also takes the Senate Intelligence Committee to task for its decision not to interview CIA officers involved with the enhanced interrogation techniques which critics 鈥� including the Wall Street Journal鈥檚 Peggy Noonan 鈥� 聽call torture.
鈥淭he worse consequence of a partisan report can be seen in this disturbing fact: It contains no recommendations,鈥� .聽鈥淭his is perhaps the most significant missed opportunity, because no one would claim the program was perfect or without its problems.鈥�
The chief defender of harsh interrogation techniques is former vice president Dick Cheney, who calls the Senate report 鈥渇ull of crap,鈥� although he acknowledges not having read it.聽
Speaking on Fox News about a program that included waterboarding, being kept awake in stress positions for days at a time, experiencing hypothermia as a result of being dunked in cold water, and something called 鈥渞ectal feeding,鈥� Mr. Cheney said the ends 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� justify the means.
But several reports take apart Cheney鈥檚 assertions, citing Fox News interviewer Bret Baier鈥檚 with the former vice president this week in which he holds to now-discredited assertions that enhanced interrogation 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� led to actionable intelligence, that waterboarding 鈥渨orked, providing information that prevented future attacks.鈥�
In a Politico piece headlined 鈥淒ick Cheney Was Lying About Torture,鈥� former interrogator Mark Fallon writes: 鈥淐heney鈥檚 claim that the frequent waterboarding of [9/11 mastermind] Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 鈥榩roduced phenomenal results for us鈥� is simply false.鈥�
鈥淎s special agent in charge of the criminal investigation task force with investigators and intelligence personnel at Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq, I was privy to the information provided by Khalid Sheik Mohammed,鈥� . 鈥淚 was aware of no valuable information that came from waterboarding.鈥�
鈥淧rofessional interrogators 鈥� know that legal, rapport-building interrogation techniques are the best way to obtain intelligence, and that torture tends to solicit unreliable information that sets back investigations,鈥� Fallon writes.
On Sunday, Cheney will be interviewed on NBC鈥檚 鈥淢eet the Press.鈥� He's not much for social media, but his daughter Liz Cheney has been busy tweeting and retweeting her objections to the Senate Intelligence Committee report.