Name:   Talullahhound - Subject:   CIA report Date:   12/9/2014 1:15:34 PM

I am conflicted over the contents of the report - not as a member of one political persusian or another - but as an American and a human being.  I was raised to believe in keeping the moral high ground and we were led to believe that there was a moral line that we would not cross in terms of interrogation techniques that were to be used. A lot of the thinking came out of WWII and he Geneva Convention. 

On the other hand, the truth is that under Clinton, we lost a huge amount of human intelligence sources due to decisions made by the Clinton WH.  We had no sources for actionable intelligence, and it was made pretty clear that the prisoners taken were not going to break under normal techniques and we reached a point, at least in some places in the Bush Administration, where we came to believe that the ends would justify the means. There still seem to be conflicting opinions about how much actionable intelligence came about as a result.  But in the wake of 9/11 anger and anguish, I'm not sure that vast number of Americans would really care what happened to these prisoners, particularly if it resulted our being able to avenge our losses.  For me, I don't have a probleme with some of the "enhanced" techniques, but there are others that I find reprehensible (rectal rehydation being one)

It's been pretty clear that we are no longer dealing with what I call the "European/American model" of "civilized warfare" .   We are engaged in warfare with an enemy that will do anything without regard to any sort of moral code we can understand.  Apparently we have increased intelligence sourcs that no one thinks we need these "enhanced" techniques anymore.  But yet, throughout history the CIA has, in a number of instances, gone rogue to accomplish an objective and their actions may not reflect the moral beliefs of most of  America.  Would the majority of Americans agree that beheading of our citizens justify beheading of our enemies at our hands?  I don't think this is necessarily a question that would fall along political lines.   Do we allow them to influence us to lower our moral standards?

I am not in favor of the release of the report at this time.  It will only serve to put more Americans at risk today.  I can't help but believe it is nothing more than poltical theatre and I don't see that it serves any useful purpose.  The information isn't new.