Divisions over the CIA interrogation report
You've heard varying opinions of the CIA report, and now here is mine.
Do I believe the CIA went too far in the interrogation tactics it adopted? Yes.
Did they get valuable information? I simply don't know. Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee and the CIA say yes, the Democrats say no.
So what are we to make of that?
I've known most of the people on this committee for years; they are good people. I wouldn't question any of their characters.
- Senate report: CIA misled lawmakers, public on enhanced interrogation (CBS News, 12/09/14)
- GOP report defends CIA interrogation tactics (CBS News, 12/09/14)
The days after 9/11, though, were unlike anything the American people have ever gone through. I'll never forget those hours after the planes hit the Twin Towers.
We were blind-sided. Some people who died were friends of mine. Knowing our frame of mind then, it is hard for me to condemn those who were trying to prevent a second attack, which they thought was imminent and possibly worse.
But what I don't understand is how good people on this committee can look at the same set of facts and come to such different conclusions.
What I do know is that I never want to go through another 9/11. Preventing that should be the government's priority.
And whether this report's release is helpful to that is not at all clear to me.
