Ronald Reagan’s Torture
Ronald Reagans Torture
February 10, 2015
From the Archive: George W. Bushs torture policies may have been extraordinary in the direct participation of U.S. personnel but they were far from unique, with Ronald Reagan having followed a similar path in his anti-leftist wars in Central America, as Robert Parry reported in 2009.
By Robert Parry (Originally published on Sept. 8, 2009)
The 2004 CIA Inspector Generals report, released in August 2009, referenced as background to the Bush-era abuses the spy agencys intermittent involvement in the interrogation of individuals whose interests are opposed to those of the United States. The report noted a resurgence in interest in teaching those techniques in the early 1980s to foster foreign liaison relationships.
The report said, because of political sensitivities, the CIAs top brass in the 1980s forbade Agency officers from using the word interrogation and substituted the phrase human resources exploitation (HRE) in training programs for allied intelligence agencies.
The euphemism aside, the reality of these interrogation techniques remained brutal, with the CIA Inspector General conducting a 1984 investigation of alleged misconduct on the part of two Agency officers who were involved in interrogations and the death of one individual, the report said (although the details were redacted in the version released to the public).
In 1984, the CIA also was hit with a scandal over what became known as an assassination manual prepared by agency personnel for the Nicaraguan Contras, a rebel group sponsored by the Reagan administration with the goal of ousting Nicaraguas leftist Sandinista government.
More:
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/02/10/ronald-reagans-torture/