Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:
CIA Director John Brennan takes questions from reporters during a press conference art CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., on Dec. 11, 2014.(Photo: Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — The director of the CIA mounted a forceful but nuanced defense of the spy agency Thursday in response to a damning Senate report on its use of torture during the George W. Bush administration.
"In many respects the program was uncharted territory for the CIA, and we were unprepared," John Brennan said in an unprecedented 45-minute televised press conference Thursday afternoon from the agency's headquarters in Langley, Va. "But the president authorized the program six days after 9/11, and it was our job to carry it out."
Brennan also said the agency made mistakes within the program, especially early on, and that some of the techniques were "abhorrent and should be repudiated by all" involved.
"None of these lapses should be excused, downplayed or denied," he said.
But he said he disagreed with the Senate Intelligence Committee report's key conclusions — namely, that the agency's use of torture was ineffective and that the CIA lied about it to Congress.
Brennan denied wholesale and intentional lying to Congress or the public about torture, though he conceded that the agency sometimes gave information that was "inaccurate, imprecise or fell short of our tradecraft standards."
Brennan said the CIA is continuing to make reforms to make sure there's more oversight on interrogations. He never used the word torture to refer to what he called "enhanced interrogation techniques."
Former president George H.W. Bush, himself a former CIA director, weighed in Thursday evening, issuing a statement in support of the agency.
"I felt compelled to reiterate my confidence in the Agency today, and to thank those throughout its ranks for their ongoing and vitally important work to keep America safe and secure," Bush said.
Even as Brennan spoke on Thursday afternoon, Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., gave a real-time rebuttal via Twitter, saying: "CIA, FBI, NSA, DIA, DOD, NGA, State Dept, DHS and many other agencies help keep us safe. Torture does not."
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., another supporter of the report, also joined the fray, tweeting that "the culture of misinformation continues."
Brennan served as deputy executive director of the CIA during the program but said he had largely a supporting role in the agency's operations. He said he "had some visibility into the program but not management oversight of it."
The interrogation program did produce useful results, Brennan said, including information leading to the raid that killed 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. But he couldn't say for sure that information could not have been obtained by other means.
In a tweet, Feinstein said there is "no evidence that terror attacks were stopped, terrorists captured or lives saved through use" of what the CIA called "enhanced interrogation techniques."
Feinstein struck a more conciliatory note in a statement issued hours after Brennan's news conference, saying the CIA director stressed reforms made by the agency. She did echo the report's conclusion that coercive methods did not yield valuable intelligence, contrary to Brennan's assertions.
"The vast majority of CIA's employees are dedicated and skilled professionals who had nothing to do with detention and interrogation," Feinstein said. "For them, I am pleased that Director Brennan is attempting to acknowledge past mistakes by the agency in order to focus on current and future missions and make sure that a program like this is never considered again."
Brennan criticized the Senate committee for not interviewing key people involved with the programs and said he wishes that more policymakers understood the CIA's work.
Many agency officials, Brennan said, don't write down much of what they say in meetings, so referring only to records, memos and emails provides only an incomplete picture of their work. Interviews would fill in the blanks, he said.
Most of the criticism toward Brennan has come from his continuing defense of the agency into the Obama administration.
"Director Brennan and the CIA today are continuing to willfully provide inaccurate information and misrepresent the efficacy of torture. In other words, the CIA is lying," Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said in a Senate floor speech Wednesday in which he renewed a call for Brennan's resignation. "This is not a problem of the past — but a problem that needs to be dealt with today."
Udall also blasted what he called a "flippant and dismissive tone" from the CIA and "the White House's willingness to let the CIA do whatever it likes — even if its efforts are aimed at actively undermining the president's stated policies."
USA TODAY
Sen. Udall: Obama must purge torture supporters
USA TODAY
Former CIA directors launch rebuttal campaign
The White House is standing behind Brennan, who worked in the CIA during the Bush administration, served as Obama's homeland security adviser and was later tapped for the top CIA post.
"The president wakes up every morning pleased to know that John Brennan and the men and women of the CIA are hard at work using their skills and expertise to protect the American people," press secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday, calling Brennan a "dedicated professional" and a "patriot."
Earnest said Brennan came to the White House on Thursday morning to deliver the president's daily intelligence briefing in person but could not discuss what was said because of the classified nature of the briefing. He said Brennan called the press conference on his own and that the White House did not sign off on it.
Earnest noted that Obama banned certain techniques in 2009, including the controversial practice of water boarding.
Obama refused to answer reporters' questions about the Senate report during a meeting Thursday of the President's Export Council.
"We're talking about exports, guys," he told reporters.
Former vice president Dick Cheney joined the debate Wednesday, telling Fox News that the Senate report was "full of crap," comparing it to the criticism of the Reagan era Iran-Contra scandal in which "a group of politicians get together and sort of throw the professionals under the bus." Cheney also said he had not read the Senate report.
USA TODAY
Cheney blasts Senate interrogation report
Follow @gregorykorte and @djusatoday on Twitter.
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed