I do not have time to review these right now, but my guess is that nothing will send shock waves through the media or anywhere else for that matter.
Personally, I hope that the current administration would use these techniques if needed. Again, they are extreme measures, not torture. The intelligence community is certainly not happy about this.
Look, if a Sept. 11-type event happens again -God forbid – are we going to feel alright about not using extreme measures on a detainee in custody when those techniques could have worked and prevented an attack?
How would you feel if a politician came up to you and said he or she was sorry for your loss, but there was just no way we could allow our intelligence people to keep that guy awake for 72 hours – or put him in a box with a caterpillar – to get the information we needed to save your family member.
Very little information is redacted, and those parts seem to be the intelligence information that actually was gathered using the techniques. Again… it worked.
- Document 1 [PDF, 2 MB]
- Document 2 [PDF, 3.25 MB]
- Document 3 [PDF, 1.25 MB]
- Document 4 [PDF, 8.25 MB]
Poll Question
Before you answer “it depends” or “no way”, have you read the memos?
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If you take away even the remotest possibility that extreme measures might be used, you completely lose the benefit of the doubt with future captured terrorists. They read the internet too, and will laugh in the face of their toothless interrogators from now on.
Lotsa luck with that, Obambi.