CIA: Practitioners of Torture?
In 1947, Congress created the Central intelligence Agency (CIA) to coordinate and centralize all the intelligence agencies and branches of the United States. The CIA’s goal is to preserve and protect the freedoms of Americans. For some time, the press has scrutinized the CIA. Lately, critics contend that the agency tortured prisoners, but CIA supporters argue that they used “enhanced interrogation techniques.” BBC News provided a list of these techniques: Sleep deprivation, slapping, forcing prisoners to remain in stressful positions, uttering sexual threats against them, and subjecting them to intense cold and “simulated drowning,” better known as waterboarding.
The last technique, waterboarding, has generated a storm of controversy. BBC News described the waterboarding process. The administrator of the process restrains the suspect, positions the suspect on his or her back with his or her feet above his or her head, and puts a cloth onto the suspect’s face or in his or her mouth and nose. Next, the administrator pours water onto the suspect’s face and into his or her nose and mouth, and the suspect “gags almost immediately as the water starts entering the lungs.” The suspect begins to experience a drowning sensation, panics, struggles to breathe, and which often prompts a sudden seizure. Interestingly, after World War II, the American military tried and executed Japanese soldiers who ordered or actually performed waterboarding on American soldiers, sailors, and marines.
Before the holiday season, news outlets devoted time and attention to cover the latest development in this story. After a thorough investigation, the Senate Intelligence Committee issued a scathing report detailing the CIA’s activities and did not hesitate to frankly declare that the CIA’s techniques were torture. Legal experts, politicians, and others fiercely have debated the CIA’s techniques’ effectiveness, legality, and morality. Long-time Republican Senator John McCain, who was held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for years, railed against the use of torture by America. Former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, however, ardently supported those tactics.
Today, Americans are divided on whether America, the nation that loudly proclaims its support for human rights and dignity, should engage in these techniques. The Washington Post published a poll. The poll found that “51 to 29 percent” believe the CIA’s practices were justified and legal; similarly, “56 to 28 percent” believe said methods gathered viable intelligence to thwart terrorist attacks. The Senate Committee report concluded otherwise: no viable intelligence was learned.
Perhaps, the saddest part of the poll was its revelation that most Americans did not stay abreast of the story – only one in four Americans kept up with the story. What does the poll mean? Does it mean that the majority of Americans are uninterested or unconcerned about the CIA possibly violating basic human rights? Answers to these vexing questions are not clear. Perhaps, most Americans have grown weary of this issue; others hold the view we do not live in a world of black and white, but in a world of gray, where security at any cost trumps right and wrong or adherence to traditional principles.
Whether the CIA may use torture tactics has fostered a national debate. The ramifications of these disclosures are still not known. Regardless of your views, it is illegal for law enforcement to torture suspects or prisoners or use these enhanced interrogation techniques. If you or a loved one experienced any of those actions by law enforcement, you have legal remedies and rights available to you. For more information, contact Attorney Perry A. Craft. He will fight for you.
Perry A. Craft has dedicated his life to helping people in need. He has tried, settled, or resolved numerous civil and criminal cases in State and Federal courts, and has represented teachers and administrators before school boards, administrative judges, and the state Board of Education. Learn more about Attorney Craft.