NEWSWEEK COVER: The Truth About Torture
Senator Bond: 'Enhanced Interrogation Techniques' Worked to Stop a Plot by
High-Level Al Qaeda Operative; CIA Official: 'Whatever Briefing They Got
Probably Not Truthful'
Intelligence Gathering Taking a Toll on America's Standing in the World;
'It's Killing Us. It's Killing Us' says Senator McCain
Fifty-Eight Percent of Americans Polled Support Use of Torture by U.S.
Military If It Might Lead to Preventing a Terrorist Attack
NEW YORK, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Since 9/11, torture lite has been used
by the Americans in the war on terror. The White House suggests the
intelligence obtained has less to with people and plots and more to do with
the structure of Al Qaeda. Because of "the program," as they somewhat spookily
describe the CIA's "aggressive interrogation techniques," White House aides
say that the United States has a much better idea how Al Qaeda operates around
the world, writes Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas in the November 21
issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, November 14). Details are hard to
come by, but Sen. Kit Bond, a member of the Senate intelligence committee,
told Newsweek that "enhanced interrogation techniques" worked with at least
one high-level Qaeda operative, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, to
thwart a plot. Bond would not say which one, but among foiled plots vaguely
described by the White House and linked to "KSM" was a scheme to attack
targets on the West Coast of the United States with hijacked airlines. The
planning for such a "second wave" attack may have been in the early stages.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051113/NYSU005 )
A career CIA official involved with interrogation policy cautioned
Newsweek not to put too much credence in such claims. "Whatever briefing they
got was probably not truthful," said the official, who did not wish to be
identified discussing sensitive matters. "And there's no way of knowing
whether what good information they got could not have been obtained by more
traditional means," he says in this week's Newsweek torture cover package "The
Truth About Torture." While many Americans probably don't wish to know too
much about the "dark side" of intelligence gathering, the horrific images of
tortured detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a terrible toll on
America's standing in the world. "It's killing us. It's killing us," says Sen.
John McCain of Arizona, whose Newsweek essay on the subject is part of the
cover package.
The latest Newsweek Poll reports that 44 percent of the public thinks
torture is often or sometimes justified as a way to obtain important
information, while 51 percent say it is rarely or never justified. A clear
majority -- 58 percent -- would support torture to thwart a terrorist attack,
but asked if they would still support torture if that made it more likely
enemies would use it against Americans, 57 percent said no. Some 73 percent
agree that America's image abroad has been hurt by the torture allegations.
As a POW in Vietnam who had his arm broken and worse, McCain knows
something about torture. His bill to ban "cruel, inhuman or degrading"
interrogation techniques passed the Senate last month 90 to 9. But Cheney,
with CIA Director Porter Goss in tow, has been lobbying against McCain. As
written, the administration argues, the McCain legislation would tie the CIA's
hands in the war on terror and potentially expose CIA operatives to
prosecution at home and abroad. Compromises are possible. "There's a common
desire to work this out," says the senior Bush aide. Torture lite -- and its
bastard child, detainee abuse -- are coming out of the shadows into the
political arena.
The story of the first "High Value Target" captured by U.S. intelligence
illustrates some of the dilemmas and pitfalls of interrogating terrorists.
When Ibn Al-Shaykh al-Libi, who helped run Qaeda training camps, was picked up
in Afghanistan in November 2001, the questioning of detainees was still the
province of the FBI. The CIA took al-Libi, strapped some duct tape over his
mouth and put him on a plane to Egypt, where interrogations are a little
rougher than down at FBI headquarters. Under questioning by the Egyptian
authorities (techniques unknown, but not hard to imagine), al-Libi confessed
that Al Qaeda terrorists, beginning in December 2000, had gone to Iraq to
learn about chemical and biological weapons. This was just the evidence the
Bush administration needed to make the case for invading Iraq and getting rid
of Saddam Hussein. In his famous, now discredited speech to the United Nations
in February 2003, the then Secretary of State Colin Powell cited the
intelligence extracted from al-Libi, referring to him not by name but as a
"senior Al Qaeda terrorist" who ran a training camp in Afghanistan. There was
only one problem with al-Libi's story: after the Powell presentation, he
recanted it. Overlooking timely doubts raised by some U.S. intelligence
officials, particularly at the Defense Intelligence Agency, the ideologues in
the Bush administration had used information obtained by torture to mislead
the world.
Top agency officials under Goss are supporting their director, but further
down the chain of command, there is uneasiness, if not downright resistance.
As The Washington Post, Newsweek and others have reported, the CIA has at
least a score of detainees tucked away in secret places it doesn't know how to
dispose of without legal procedures. "Where's the off button?" says one
retired CIA official who prefers to stay undercover. In the hands of President
Bush -- if he is willing to openly face some tough choices.
(Read entire cover package at http://www.Newsweek.com.
For news releases click "Pressroom" at the bottom of the page)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10020629/site/newsweek /
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10019179/site/newsweek /
Newsweek Poll
Use of Torture
Princeton Survey Research Associates International
Final Topline Results
(11/12/05)
N = 1,002 national adults, 18 and over
Margin of error: plus or minus 4
Interviewing dates: November 10-11, 2005
SAMPLE SIZE/MARGIN OF ERROR FOR REGISTERED VOTERS SUBGROUPS:
884 Registered voters (plus or minus 4)
431 Men (plus or minus 6)
451 Women (plus or minus 5)
282 Republicans (plus or minus 7)
301 Democrats (plus or minus 7)
281 Independents (plus or minus 7)
303 Right to Life (plus or minus 7)
502 Pro-Choice (plus or minus 5)
SAMPLE SIZE/MARGIN OF ERROR FOR KEY SUBGROUPS:
493 Men (plus or minus 5)
509 Women (plus or minus 5)
302 Republicans (plus or minus 6)
345 Democrats (plus or minus 6)
318 Independents (plus or minus 6)
829 Whites (plus or minus 4)
150 Non-Whites (plus or minus 9)
356 South (plus or minus 6)
646 Non-South (plus or minus 5)
273 Evangelical Protestants (plus or minus 7)
280 Non-Evangelical Protestants (plus or minus 7)
250 Catholics (plus or minus 7)
103 No religion (plus or minus 11)
338 Right to Life (plus or minus 6)
569 Pro-Choice (plus or minus 5)
426 Samuel Alito should be confirmed (plus or minus 6)
250 Samuel Alito should not be confirmed (plus or minus 7)
NOTES:
Data is weighted so that sample demographics match Census Current
Population Survey parameters for gender, age, education, race, region, and
population density.
Reported sample sizes are unweighted and should not be used to compute
percentages.
An asterisk (*) indicates a value less than 1%.
1. Do you think the use of torture against suspected terrorists in order
to gain important information can often be justified, can sometimes be
justified, can rarely be justified, or can never be justified?
Often Sometimes Rarely Never DK
Current Total 17 27 18 33 5 =100
Republicans 25 34 14 24 3 =100
Democrats 11 25 20 40 4 =100
Independents 17 25 21 31 6 =100
TREND(1)
3/17-27/05 15 30 24 27 4 =100
(1) Trend from Pew Research Center.
2. Would you support the use of torture by U.S. military or intelligence
personnel if it might lead to the prevention of a major terrorist
attack, or not?
Yes, No, DK
support would not
Current Total 58 35 7 =100
Republicans 72 20 8 =100
Democrats 53 41 6 =100
Independents 54 39 7 =100
3. What if the use of torture by the United States makes it more likely
that Americans will be tortured by our enemies? Would you support the
use of torture under these circumstances, or not?
Yes, No, DK
support would not
Current Total 36 57 7 =100
Republicans 48 43 9 =100
Democrats 27 69 4 =100
Independents 36 56 8 =100
4. Do you think the recent allegations about the use of torture by the
United States have hurt this country's image around the world ... A
lot, somewhat, not too much, or not at all?
A lot Somewhat Not Not DK
too much at all
Current Total 39 34 13 10 4 =100
Republicans 25 40 16 13 6 =100
Democrats 47 33 12 5 3 =100
Independents 39 32 14 11 4 =100
D2. Now I have just a few more questions so we can describe the people who
took part in our survey ... Regardless of how you might have voted in
recent elections, in politics TODAY, do you consider yourself a
Republican, Democrat, or Independent?
27 Republican
37 Democrat
32 Independent
2 No party/Not interested in politics (VOL.)
1 Other party (VOL.)
1 Don't know
100
SOURCE Newsweek