Senate "Torture" Report Update

For John, BLUF:  Here is another question for which there are no answers, just ethical or moral positions.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Central Intelligence Agency repeatedly tortured suspected terrorists, regularly lied about it to Congress and the White House, and, for all the pain and trouble this caused the agency and the United States, didn’t end up extracting a single piece of valuable information not readily available by other means.

That, at least, is the conclusion of the forthcoming Feinstein report, a long and, in certain quarters, much-anticipated review of the CIA’s detainee and interrogation programs during the Bush administration.  A steady stream of leaks in news stories over several months has provided the public a preview of its contents.

That would be Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat from California.

And so go the top two paragraphs in the Weekly Standard article on the report being produced by Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which is chaired by Senator Dianne Feinstein.  It is being done by the Democrat staffers, as the Republicans on the Committee declined to participate.  There is bipartisanship for you.

The article, by Reporter Luis M. Alvarez, is headlined "The Truth About Interrogation" and the subheadline, telegraphing the story's punchline, is "The enhanced techniques work."♠

This is an infinity of mirrors and with this being a report from Capitol Hill, by Democrats alone, the idea that it will be seen as being balanced by those outside the Democrat corral, including those unenrolled in a political party, is between slim and none.

People I know and respect have written that torture is not necessary to extract needed information.  On the other hand, there is always, lurking in the background, the idea of the "ticking time-bomb" scenario.  That is where the bomb is going to go off within the next 24 hours (or so) and you have someone who (you believe) knows the location of the device and perhaps how to disarm it.  This can wander of into the Sodom and Gomorrah Scenario, where Abraham pleads with the Lord to spare the two cities for the sake of the righteous (Genesis 18:16-33).

In our recent scenario, al Qaeda had shot its wad and there were no further terrorist attacks along the lines of 9/11.  Was it due to the Enhanced Interrogation Techniques or to the limits of al Qaeda's capabilities?

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Here is the Wikipedia article on EIT or Enhanced Interrogation Techniques.  Fortunately, aside from use by Germany and Japan in World War II, torture has never been used by any other nation or group.