IG’s report reveals interrogator restricted detainee’s carotid artery

[RamboLiberal]

A CIA inspector general’s report written in 2004 was released in a less-redacted version Monday, revealing new details of the agency’s torture techniques applied to terror war prisoners.

Page 77 of the report discusses “unauthorized or undocumented techniques” used by CIA agents but not approved by the Bush administration’s Department of Justice. One such “improvised action” was a pressure point tactic: the compression of a detainee’s carotid artery by an agent with both hands around the prisoner’s neck.

Prolonged compression of the carotid artery is lethal, as it cuts off blood flow to the brain.

“The extent of these actions is illustrative of the consequences of the lack of clear guidance at the time and the Agency’s insufficient attention to interrogations in ,” the report says.

The document also describes a 2003 incident in which an independent contractor beat an Afghan man with a large, metal flashlight. The man later died in U.S. custody and his body was turned over to his family without an autopsy. The contractor was not prosecuted, but the CIA did not extend his paid term. The inspector general notes that the Department of Justice is investigating the incident.

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/24/igs-report-reveals-pressure-point-torture/

Full report: http://washingtonindependent.com/56175/the-2004-cia-inspector-generals-report-on-torture

There damn well should be charges & prosecutions on this!

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

I'm reading it now

[merh]

2. How they like to "clean things up" - put a pretty spin on the unpretty

POWs = enemy combatants

enhanced interrogation techniques = torture

choking to death = compression of a detainee’s carotid artery


:argh:

:cry:

[intheflow]

3. "...the Agency’s insufficient attention to interrogations..."

This is wrong. They were obviously paying too much attention to torturing people. They were directed to do so by Bush and Cheney, so that's what they were focusing on.

[merh]

4. K&R

[wiggs]

5. Does the report explain how over a hundred detainees died in custody (IIRC), including

25 at Abu Ghraib? Does it talk about rape and sodomy? Does it talk about what happened at rendition sites not just our sites? Does the report detail what kind of information we were asking during torture...such as how is Hussein involved in 9/11?

What reason do we have to conclude that the CIA report (more accurately, the CIA IG report) is thorough and truthful in its evaluation of the CIA? What does the report say about detainees proven to be innocent and released...or, tortured but then found innocent...or, cases in which torture (even approved techniques) was un-necessary? When does Seymour Hersch step forward to corroborate or debunk?

The report indicates that lack of supervision is at fault...what about the original justifying memos? What about the tone set by the administration that divides us into good and evil?

What about how the guantanamo commander (forget his name) was reprimanded for harsh policies but then transferred to Abu Ghraib? Any connection there to illegal techniques? Any mention of how the actions, while they may be consistent with WH memos, ARE STILL ILLEGAL UNDER THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS (binding law) and the Army manual?

They aren't getting to the bottom line that everyone knows is there. This stuff is meant as a pressure relief valve....extremely frustrating how much is hidden.


WHITEWASH!!!