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CIA Brutality

Kyle Macero, Staff Writer

Former CIA agents leaked over five hundred pages on the CIA post 9/11 interrogation system and methods of acquiring information. The leak uncovered the secret truth behind the United States’ clandestine department.

Following 9/11, former president George W. Bush approved “advanced torture tactics among” to be used on terrorists, primarily members of Al-Qaeda, for intelligence gathering. While this happened over ten years ago, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports have been released on the shocking details of their torture methods on Al-Qaeda terrorists in CIA prisons. Such torture measures included sleep deprivation for over one hundred hours in painful positions, waterboarding and confining said terrorists to uncomfortable enclosements.

As of now, it is reported the CIA held 119 prisoners from the program's five year lifespan from 2002 to 2007. 39 of those were subjected to the “advanced torture tactics” and 47 had been detained for longer than 365 days. The first and longest lasting detainee, Abu Zubaydah was in CIA custody for 1,590 day - roughly four years and four months. The CIA however was not unlawful in their actions. Dick Cheney clarified the upbringing of the CIA’s program. “The program was authorized. The agency did not want to proceed without authorization, and it was also reviewed legally by the Justice Department before they undertook the program," Cheney said.

The purpose of these secret CIA prisons was solely for intelligence gathering rather than the conventional purpose of United States prisons. There is much controversy as to the morality and justification of the CIA’s actions. The CIA themselves did not torture the detainees at their prisons. Since the start of the program and to its closure in 2007, the CIA spent $81 Million on contractors to interrogate detained terrorists, such acts include torture methods.

Debates of whether these “advanced interrogation acts” were just or constitutional are swirling around in D.C. In an interview with NBC News, President Barack Obama stated how outrageous the CIA’s tactics and actions were. “I've been very explicit about how our intelligence gathering needs to conduct itself, and explicitly prohibited these kinds of techniques,” Obama said.

The morality of such tactics is a major talking point for Democrats and Republicans alike. Republican Arizona senator, John McCain commented on the CIA’s actions. “Most of all I know the use of torture compromises what most distinguishes us from our enemies,” McCain said. Barbaric groups in the Middle East, such as ISIL, use similar information gathering tactics that the CIA used.

NHS United States history and government teacher, Mr. Edwards, states the irony of what the CIA did. “Our own intelligence community is telling us that it is not giving us valuable information then we are in a position where all we are no better than or the same as the folks we are fighting against,” Edwards, said.

The general stance for Republicans on the “advanced interrogation tactics” is generally in favor. The Republican GOP (Grand Old Party) attested to the benefits of the CIA’s prisons. “In reviewing the information the CIA provided for the Study, however, we were in awe of what the men and women of the CIA accomplished in their efforts to prevent another attack,” said the GOP.

Approximately 32 of the 39 reported detainees that underwent the “advanced interrogation techniques” produced intelligence and useful information to the CIA. “If we are to use techniques that are considered torture that provide valuable intelligence that avoids American loss I am begrudgingly for it,” Edwards said.

CIA director John Brennan defended the agency’s actions. “The intelligence gained from the program was critical to our understanding of al Qaeda continues to inform our counterterrorism efforts to this day,” said Brennen. However some speculate that intelligence given may not be legitimate. The CIA did admit that some information given was flawed and possibly untrue.

The CIA used harsh methods to obtain allegedly useful information for the greater good of America but in the process tarnishing its reputation and breaking away from American virtues and values. “We are supposed to be better as America, we are supposed be better as a nation, we’re supposed to better as a people,” Edwards said.

Photo Credit; news.yahoo.com

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