07.26.08
Justice OKd CIA torture, memos say
RG
Bloomberg July 25, 2008
Washington — A civil-liberties group yesterday released government
documents it says show the U.S. Justice Department authorized the CIA
to use waterboarding in questioning captured al-Qaida members.
The material, obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union in a
Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, includes a Jan. 28, 2003,
directive from then-CIA Director George Tenet. It instructed agents to
keep “a contemporaneous record” of “enhanced” interrogation
techniques.
The ACLU said an Aug. 4, 2004, memo states that a “classified August
2002″ Justice Department opinion concluded that “interrogation
techniques, including the waterboard, do not violate the Torture
Statute.” Waterboarding is intended to make the suspect feel he is
drowning.
The memo, its date blacked out, was among three documents the ACLU
posted on its website. “Intelligence gained using the interrogation
techniques has saved American lives and property,” said the one-page
document stamped “Top Secret.”
The CIA has acknowledged that it used waterboarding.
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