Feinstein Issues Statement On IG; Misunderstands Army Field Manual
Senator Dianne Feinstein of California has issued an official statement "On Release of Documents Related to CIA Interrogation and Detention Program and Renewed Commitment to Army Field Manual Standard for Interrogations":
“The documents released today provide evidence that the CIA detention and interrogation program exceeded its authority as follows:
· Beating a detainee in Afghanistan, who later died in custody, with a heavy flashlight;
· Threatening a detainee with a handgun and a power drill;
· Staging a mock execution;
· Threatening to kill a detainee’s family;
· Choking a detainee to the point of unconsciousness;
· Applying waterboarding in ways that beyond what the Office of Legal Counsel had authorized, and not informing OLC of how waterboarding was being done in practice prior to the Inspector General’s report.The IG report also noted a case in which the interrogators at a ‘black site’ recommended ending the use of enhanced interrogation techniques on a detainee, but were overruled by officials at CIA headquarters and told to resume waterboarding the detainee.
I first learned of this and other IG reports, starting in September of 2006. I expressed significant concern with the program and introduced legislation in 2007 to limit CIA interrogations to techniques authorized by the Army Field Manual. This provision was passed by Congress in 2008, but was vetoed by President Bush. I reintroduced this legislation in January.
President Obama has committed to requiring that the CIA only use the proven and effective interrogation techniques authorized by the Army Field Manual, and I strongly agree with that position.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is conducting a comprehensive, bipartisan study of all aspects of CIA’s detention and interrogation program. This study includes how the program was created and operated, how it was briefed to the Congress and other parts of the Executive Branch, its compliance with guidance from the Department of Justice, and the information produced. The study is ongoing. We have reviewed thousands of documents on a number of high-value detainees, and will review the cases of all such detainees.
The Committee’s study will continue until we complete our work, regardless of any decision by Attorney General Holder on whether to proceed to a criminal investigation. I look forward to continued cooperation with our work from the CIA and the Administration.”
As Marcy has pointed out recently, DiFi has been making noises about actually doing her job as head of SSCI as of late, and this is a pretty decent statement all things considered. Especially when compared to the concern trolling tripe issued by Joe Lieberman. It will be to all of our benefit if she and SSCI follows through with a thorough investigation so that our intelligence gatherers do not commit the crimes described by former CIA officials Robert Baer and Tyler Drumheller in the video attached hereto.
However, Senator Feinstein exhibits a very troubling lack of understanding of the nature of the Army Field Manual and the gross amount of torture still authorized by its contents. Saluting the "proven and effective interrogation techniques authorized by the Army Field Manual", and indicating that she "strongly agrees" with the position of the Obama Administration to rely on the AFM is not a good thing at all.
I addressed the overwhelming problems with reliance on the reconstituted Army Field Manual back in late January of this year in the post Obama, The Crawford Torture Admission & The Army Field Manual Lie. Citing my friend Jeff Kaye, I said:
This is the lie. The Army Field Manual provisions, especially with those pesky footnotes like "Appendix M", leave a wide open path for torture. And this is exactly what Susan Crawford directly admitted to Bob Woodward. This is a significant problem, the very torture, and modalities thereof, that are so abhorrent are about to be ratified and enshrined into the ethos of the new Obama Administration. What is worse is that the media and the country as a whole are biting off on the proposition that the torture regime is being slain in the process, and that is simply not the case.
The Guantanamo virus is spreading. Its agent is Appendix M of the Army Field Manual. It will be very difficult to eradicate. It will require the effort of every person who believes in human rights and is opposed to torture to spread the word.
…
The AFM as constituted must not be made the "one national standard" until the virus is eradicated. Appendix M must be rescinded in its totality, and portions of the document, such as the section on Fear Up, rewritten. Otherwise, Bush’s and Rumsfeld’s attempt to sneak coercive methods of interrogation into the main document of human intelligence gathering used by the military will succeed.
The Army Field Manual is not a panacea to solve the torture problems that were indoctrinated into the military and intelligence conduct of the United States by the Bush/Cheney Administration, it is a tool for continuing and codifying much of the worst conduct, especially via the egregious "Appendix M". Senator Feinstein should neither salute nor accept this standard for the future; instead she should see to it that the torture enabling provisions of the AFM, including Appendix M are revised or excised before reliance by our troops and/or intelligence professionals. And she should have the integrity to admit that President Obama has seen to it that the CIA is not even fully constrained by the AFM, even with the offending Appendix M.
So you’re going to fax a copy of this post to her chief of staff, right?
Chief of Staff: Chris Thompson
DC Fax: 202-228-3954
And the SSCI Dems’ fax number is: 202-224-9682
Tell me what TREASON looks like.
This is what TREASON looks like.
Strip them of everything
thanks for posting this, bmaz. CA folks should all give her offices abundant calls.
on this general topic, just read scott horton’s piece on all this:
http://www.harpers.org/archive…..c-90005596
and he is struck with how holder adheres to the watergate era’s “modified limited hangout,” damning him for keeping the report under wraps and for keeping the worst of the worst in these matters cloaked.
the theme that gets repeated in here in watching what all the defenders (e.g., ari, liz, the big dick himself) are saying is that we don’t want some AG down the road investigating a past AG, etc. more than a lame excuse or argument against seeking justice, this position actually sounds more like a thinly veiled repub threat to me. and we know full well that these thugs are more than capable of planting incrimination evidence and launching a slime media campaign whenever needed. hell, cheney’s even taken a somewhat double dare ya attitude in all this.
where are our congressional cojones?? simply amazing how bullied even the best folks can be and still appear to function in the real world, even appearing to be noble and honorable. i still say congress needs to proceed full throttle with a watergate type investigation, and get themselves some police and subpoenas and go for it, especially republicans be damned.
i suspect this is something obama would encourage passionately, but ya gotta wonder about rahmbo.
i’m beginning to viscerally feel, on a daily basis, the great unraveling, but way beyond the economy. the same unraveling of ethics and morality is behind all of it, the torture, the wars, the corporate lobbying in the name of almighty profit/greed, the dismantling of the constitution. could be not even folks as idealistic and principled as obama can thwart it now; too far gone.
treason doth never prosper ..
what’s the reason ??
for if it prosper
none dare call it treason ..
i’m a bit confused .. imo ..anything in the AFM would be temepered by the bounds of acceptable actions under and within the UCMJ .. and i’m thinking specifically here the articles against assault ..
i think a reading of the one .. without coupling it to the other leads to very different conclusions than what i would expect out military interrogators ..
“President Obama has committed to requiring that the CIA only use the proven and effective interrogation techniques authorized by the Army Field Manual, and I strongly agree with that position “
Now, I will issue a disclaimer here, and say I have had a long day…BUT…is this PARSING,referring time and again to CIA…but NOT to CIA contractees?
Is this misleading or am I misreading this?
Does CIA include CIA contractors,too?
What would it take to cross out appendix M? I read this morning that Obama doesn’t have a secretary of the Army yet.
what we really need is dawn johnson heading up OLC .. end of bullshit .. imo ..
As long as the whole deal is a bipartisan effort, then I think bipartisanship has been satisfied and that’s the most important thing. If it weren’t bipartisan, God knows what might happen.
We can’t have that.
E-mailed DiFink. Included suggestions for preventing future messe, as well as telling her she ought to find out what the AFM is.
Suggested that investigations and trials are necessary, and having them at the Hague would be politically embarrassing (which is true, and which I think would be a good thing generally, as far too many of the politicians should be embarrassed by what they’ve done).
CIA Likely Let Contractors Perform Waterboarding—WSJ
By Siobhan Gorman
February 8, 2008
(via Truthout)
[edited for fair use]
The use of outside contractors raises awkward questions about accountability. “The government may be prohibited from doing something, but is a corporation?” asked R.J. Hillhouse, a former political-science professor who has researched the outsourcing of military and intelligence operations for her book “Outsourced.” Ms. Hillhouse said procurement law has traditionally differentiated between the reporting responsibilities of government officers and contractors.Gen. Hayden, however, said private contractors involved in CIA interrogations “are bound by the same rules” as the agency’s officers.
Lawmakers are concerned that using contractors in interrogations may violate the law, or at least government policy, which states that “inherently governmental activities” must be performed by government personnel.Jeffrey Smith, a former CIA general counsel, said it might make sense to use contractors who have a language specialty to screen detainees, for example. But waterboarding crosses into the realm of activities only the government should perform.
“If we’re going to ask contractors to do these things, then we have to find a way to assure that they comply with the law and that, to the extent we direct them to do activities that violate local law, that we protect them,” Mr. Smith said. He added that he opposes the waterboarding.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, wrote to Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Wednesday to ask his views on the legality of involving contractors to program interrogations.
“I believe the interrogation of detainees falls squarely within the definition of an inherently governmental activity,” Sen. Feinstein wrote. The 2006 Detainee Treatment Act includes a legal shield for U.S. government employees who use officially authorized interrogation techniques.
bmaz,
good work!
but i didn’t think feinstein was up for election so soon.
doesn’t she have four more years to sleep?
what could possibly have prompted her to express a moral sentiment, given that she has demonstrably lacked that capacity over the last, say, eight years?
bmaz:
Good post. Really, really good. Thankyou.
Crucial to keep banging the drum — or trashcan lid — on the egregious Appendix M of the AFM.
In addition to the great work done here, both by yourself, Marcy and others, I’d like to recommend that those interested take a look at Valtin’s work over at Invictus… here’s his January 7, 2009 piece on the AFM revisions and Appendix M:
How The U.S Army’s Field Manual Codified Torture — and Still Does
A snippet:
The whole piece is worth reading.
Thanks, bmaz. You and Stephen Soldz and smintheus at Unbossed have been the greatest blogging champions of exposing the AFM I could wish for.
Feinstein knows what she’s doing, and this is total spin. Even waiting to release the TF report the same day as the IG report was all about spin as well. I wrote a piece I personally love some months back on the AFM spinmeisters, How the Press, the Pentagon, and Even Human Rights Groups Sold Us an Army Field Manual that (Still) Sanctions Torture.
I don’t trust Feinstein at all. It bothers me that she’s in charge of the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation.
There were always TWO interrogation programs (and you see a hint of this in the IG report’s separation of techniques into “standard” and “physical”, i.e., EITs). The “standard” derives from the Kubark/sensory deprivation model; the EITs from SERE reverse-engineered torture. The first is known as “torture-lite,” or psychological torture. It’s actually just as damaging as physical torture to a human being’s functioning.
Here’s what the CIA IG says are legal, “standard” techniques:
Isolation, sleep deprivation (up to 72 hrs., later reduced to 48 hr.), reduced caloric intake, deprivation of reading material, use of loud music/white noise, use of diapers (up to 72 hrs.) and “moderate psychological pressure”, e.g., use of fears and phobias and threatening behavior, as in the Army Field Manual, known as “Fear Up”.
Ah, yes, now that’s a typical police interrogation.
With Schumer guarding our backs in health care reform and DiFi on safe guarding us from CIA miscreants, what do we have to fear but knives in the back when least expected?
*shivers*
And Harry has THEIR backs.
huzzah…
Bingo
Well, at least we’ve still got Lieberman, guarding our backs on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
If a pro-torture, pro-warrantless wireapping guy was in charge of the Congressional committee on Homeland Security that would be pretty …
Never mind.
Very good post bmaz. DiFi needs to look at those AFM authorized techniques and decide which ones are ok to use on children of suspects and which ones can be used on stray Canadians and Germans like Arar and el-Masri and which ones are ok for use on someone like Donald Vance.
Soldiers become police.
The police are getting rougher every day.
Tasering moms, grandmothers, fathers.
Roughing up our kids.
From your link:
Secondly, the role of some human rights organizations in promoting the new Army Field Manual — in particular, the actions of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch — are curious, to say the least. Press reports and the interview with Malinowski show that inclusion of certain human rights organizations in the vetting of the AFM started at the very beginning. We may not be able to find out what went on in the editorial offices of the nation’s top newspapers, but we should know more about the discussions within the human rights organizations on how they advised, or were fooled, by talks with Bush administration and Pentagon personnel.
Meanwhile, other human rights organizations, such as the Nobel Prize-winning Physicians for Human Rights, have criticized the language and techniques described in Appendix M of the Army Field Manual, and called for rescission of the offending text. In a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in May 2007, Leonard S. Rubenstein, Executive Director of PHR, and retired Brigadier General Stephen N. Xenakis, MD, former Commanding General of the Southeast Regional U.S. Army Medical Command, wrote:
The new Army Field Manual on human intelligence gathering… explicitly prohibits several SERE-based techniques, yet Appendix M of the manual explicitly permits what amounts to isolation, along with sleep and sensory deprivation. The manual is silent on a number of other SERE-based methods, creating ambiguity and doubt over their place in interrogation doctrine….
PHR, therefore, respectfully urges you to take the following actions:
1. Fully implement the OIG’s recommendation to “preclude the use of Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape physical and psychological coercion techniques” in all interrogations. (Id, pp. 29-30.) This includes rescission of Appendix M of the new Army Field Manual and specific prohibition, by name, of each of the known SERE-based methods and their equivalents.
It seems likely that the Army Field Manual, whether by executive order (most likely) or by legislation, will become the new “single standard” for U.S. interrogation. Press reports hint that the Obama administration may yet allow a loophole for CIA interrogators.
(emphasis mine)
——————————————
This must stop if we are to leave this country to our children.
This must stop.
Just one example.
A grandfather and pregnant woman were tasered at their own home while celebrating the baptism of the pregnant woman’s twins.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPRrHYn3TiU
The Largest Street Gang in America
Save this and share it.
http://www.videosift.com/video…..in-America
I posted this upstairs, more aprapo down here;
here’s the way we need to frame the discussion on this investigation, since some will claim those following orders should not be investigated
“we are investigating those who deliberately DISOBEYED orders putting our this country and our soldiers at far greater risk”
things like throwing their own crap back in their face
“reconstituted Army Field Manual”
“reconstituted” ouch
Could never figure out why the investigation into false pre-war intelligence Phase I and Phase 11 of the SSCI never went anywhere. So what investigations are completed. No one was held accountable for any of the false pre-war intelligence.
Not much hope that anyone will be held accountable for the torture.
So far the Bush administration is above the law
Bmaz/all Jim White has an important post up over at Seminal
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/7511
Attorney General Holder: What Happened to KSM’s Children? Release All of Paragraph 95!
.. oops
Clearly the failure to actually acknowledge the laws as they are currently written in Federal statutes prohibiting the sorts of tortures and abuses that were carried out…within ‘the bounds’ of the OLC opinions and CIA GC opinions promulgated by proponents of torturing prisoners, the degradation and dehumanization of the prisoners, is a sign that the rule of law is failing in the United States. Let us hope that the rule of legal adherence to the law and treaties remains alive and well in other democracies…for our American “democracy” is surely failing when it begins to consider non-citizen and citizen alike as not worthy of protection under our laws.