Thursday, July 24, 2008

Secret Memo Shows Harsh CIA Tactics Approved

If they didn't think these methods were so controversial, if not illegal, why did they keep it a secret? Is Congress really intending on keeping this administration accountable? At the very least, why don't we have hearings like Iran-Contra that were held during the Reagan days. Bush Inc. should not get away Scott Free:

The Justice Department in 2002 told the CIA that its interrogators would be safe from prosecution for violations of anti-torture laws if they believed "in good faith" that harsh techniques used to break prisoners' will would not cause "prolonged mental harm."

That heavily censored memo, released Thursday, approved the CIA's harsh interrogation techniques method by method, but warned that if the circumstances changed, interrogators could be running afoul of anti-torture laws.

The Aug. 1, 2002, memo signed by then-Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee was issued the same day he wrote a memo for then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales defining torture as only those "extreme acts" that cause pain similar in intensity to that caused by death or organ failure. That memo was never rescinded.

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