Wyden speaks out on CIA torture report

Kari Chisholm

On Tuesday, Senator Ron Wyden took to the Senate floor to discuss the Senate Intelligence Committee Report on the use of torture as an interrogation tactic.

Wyden repeatedly took the CIA to task for misleading Congress with regard to the effectiveness of "enhanced interrogation." The report looked at 20 specific cases where the CIA had claimed that torture was the only way to get critical information.

In every one of these 20 cases, CIA statements about the unique effectiveness of coercive interrogation was contradicted in one way or another by the agency's own internal records. And we're not talking about minor inconsistencies. ... In every one of these 20 examples, the arguments for them crumble under close scrutiny.

In a statement, Wyden said:

While I understand this is a dangerous world and am grateful to the rank-and-file intelligence professionals that keep our country safe, the facts show that torture did nothing to protect America from foreign threats.

The current CIA leadership has been alarmingly resistant to acknowledging the full scope of the mistakes and misrepresentations that surrounded this program for so many years. I hope this report is the catalyst CIA leaders need to acknowledge that torture did not work and close this disgraceful chapter in our country’s history.

Senator Wyden also spoke with NPR's All Things Considered.

There's an excellent summary of the report available from the National Journal.

By Kari Chisholm Dec. 10, 2014