“The task force, led by two former congressmembers — a Republican, Asa Hutchinson, and a Democrat, James R. Jones — said it found no compelling evidence torture produced helpful information that could not have been found without it.”

Landmark Report Confirms U.S. Tortured Prisoners After 9/11

A landmark nonpartisan report has confirmed it is “indisputable” the United States tortured people after the 9/11 attacks and says the highest officials in the George W. Bush administration are responsible.

The Constitution Project says never before in U.S. history had there been “the kind of considered and detailed discussions that occurred after 9/11 directly involving a president and his top advisers on the wisdom, propriety and legality of inflicting pain and torment on some detainees in our custody.”

The task force, led by two former congressmembers — a Republican, Asa Hutchinson, and a Democrat, James R. Jones — said it found no compelling evidence torture produced helpful information that could not have been found without it.

It details how the CIA waterboarded not only al-Qaeda suspects but also at least one Libyan suspect, and says prisoners were slammed into walls, chained for hours in difficult positions and kept awake for days.

The report also criticizes a lack of transparency by the Obama administration, saying its practice of hiding details about rendition and torture “cannot continue to be justified on the basis of national security.”

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/4/16/headlines#4165

Ironic poscript: This story is filed under “terrorism” for two reasons – it’s the official excuse for the attack on civil liberties and civil rights, and secondly, because like indefinite detenction without trial/without charges, inflicting torture on “suspects” is itself a form of terrorism by the govenrment of the United States, against its own citizens as well as other nationals.

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