Opinion

A brutal torture campaign discredited the U.S., failed to deliver

Sen. Dianne Feinstein pushed to release the report on torture. Sen. Dianne Feinstein pushed to release the report on torture. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press Photo: J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close A brutal torture campaign discredited the U.S., failed to deliver 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

It’s way worse than the government previously acknowledged. That’s the devastating message of a 500-page-plus analysis of the CIA’s torture program launched in the jittery aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The document, five years in the making and nearly shelved, depicts a brutal, poorly managed program that scooped up terrorist suspects and abused them badly. CIA overseers lied about the extent of the covert effort to policymakers in Congress and the White House. And the ends didn’t justify the means: No meaningful information was extracted from the caged, waterboarded and stripped prisoners deprived of sleep for days on end.

The findings have taken on a life of their own. Though it’s been long known that torture was used in the hunt for terrorists, the report has become a target itself. Past and present CIA leaders fought its release. Bush administration officials right up to George W. Bush have denounced the report as unfair and praised the interrogation teams and tactics. A nervous Obama White House dragged out negotiations over the public contents until this week, hoping to mollify all sides.

It’s to the great credit of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that she was able to push past so many obstacles and release the summary report, distilled from a 6,000-page document still kept under wraps. As the release date drew near, she ignored doubters who argued that the timing was wrong or the findings would unleash overseas attacks. The full history needed a public airing, she suggested in a speech on the Senate floor, because it was a “stain on our values and on our history.”

There should be further consequences, but that’s unlikely. President Obama, who disavowed torture after taking office, long ago ruled out punishment for the string of CIA officers who dreamed up and managed the “enhanced interrogation” concept. Good relations with the powerful spy world are more important than a legal reckoning with past misconduct.

The Justice Department has twice weighed charges but dropped the idea. John Brennan, Obama’s former top security adviser who now runs the spy agency, is sure to protect agency personnel.

In this hostile world, the Senate report by the chamber’s Feinstein-led Intelligence Committee is a remarkable look at a dark chapter in the war on terror. The central question — does torture produce results? — is answered with a resounding no.

Despite this truth-telling, the report may be dismissed as a partisan document, produced by Democrats and disavowed by Republicans, who are due to take command of the panel in just a few days. GOP lawmakers complain that the investigation left out direct interviews with key figures and was written by Democratic staffers.

That doesn’t argue for its broad acceptance in politically divided Washington. Still, the findings in their gritty detail should remind the rest of the nation how badly directed the terrorist hunt was. For a long period, the country’s spy agency and its political allies ignored the nation’s ideals. That should never happen again.

Torture report takeaways

Here are the key findings in the Senate report:

Torture didn’t produce any useful intelligence.

The tactics were especially gruesome: near drownings, chained suspects kept standing for days and “rectal hydration” food injections.

The White House and Congress were misled about the operations and effective- ness of the program.

The program was marked by poor supervision, internal feuds and few controls.

CIA leaders withheld the extent of the program from the George W. Bush White House.