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ABC News reports that high level administration officials approved the very details of torture |
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Thursday, 10 April 2008 |
ABC News has conducted a five month investigation that reveals high level administration officials were involved in the approval of torture.
"It also was discussed and approved in meetings by the National Security Council’s Principals Committee, a group that included Vice President Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, John Ashcroft. The meetings were chaired by then National Security advisor Rice"
Not only were high level administration officials involved in the approval of torture, they were also involved in the very details of how people would be tortured:
"In dozens of private talks and meetings, sources said that a handful of top advisor discussed specific high-value al Qaeda prisoners and exactly how those prisoners would be interrogated. Whether, for example, they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding. The discussion about the “enhanced interrogation techniques” were so detailed, sources said, the interrogations were almost choreographed, down to the number of times the CIA could use a specific tactic."
Also troubling is the revelation that then Attorney General John Ashcroft feared the repercussion of having such a discussion in the White House, preferring to shield the administration from accountability.
"Sources said Ashcroft was troubled by the discussions. He argued that while the tactics were legal, Senior advisors should not be involved in the grim details. One top official said Ashcroft asked out loud after one meeting 'why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly.'"
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