Not only by the US that is for sure there was a great deal of complicity from its allies in Europe and beyond. The torture program being just one part.
The complicity in allowing the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses being the astounding one. The removal of habeas corpus another.
So we are to believe everyone around this was misled?
Gosh that makes it so much better, our politicians are gibbering idiots? One way of denying responsibility and eventual prosecution.
But, but we were lied to! We were naive. Who could have known!
Utter and complete bullpucky.
Dear god, the number of reports that said Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction before the war kicked off should have been a warning yet the senate passed the Iraq Resolution 77 to 23 and the house 297 to 133.
The lies about Al-Qaeda in Iraq, even though they are for sure there now.
Then we had reports about torture and extraordinary rendition with the complicity of our allies in the program. Reports of torture were treated with disdain by large swathes of the MSM. The systematic torture in Abu Ghraib were a few low level soldiers misled the whole military and security structure, as for Bagram, Guantanamo, who could have known.
During all of this we are now to believe people were misled?
When we sent prisoners via extraordinary rendition it was for the prisoners own personal safety not to use torture.
Now in 2014 we are asked to believe that this whole meticulously designed program of torture was hidden from our politicians by the CIA? That means you have to basically ignore all the information coming out of the Middle East for over a decade.
But, but we didn't know! We were lied to! From the politicians.
But, but we were only following orders, from the CIA.
Torture is good from the Vice president at the time Dick Cheney both then and now.
As for G W Bush
“I’m aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved … I told the country we did that. And I also told them it was legal. We had legal opinions that enabled us to do it.” President Bush in an interview with ABC about interrogation tactics used on detainees in April 2008How to justify torture by lawyers in the White House was a continuous theme.
Then our politicians claiming the three monkey defense, "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil".
So all we have to do is overhaul the CIA ,say we are sorry, look forward and carry on as if nothing happened.
Makes me confident that with all the information circulating at the time that our politicians were so irredeemably and willingly stupid as to be misled and they now expect me to believe they are absolved by this concluding report?
Sorry, but I am having trouble swallowing this conclusion. Let's find a few low level CIA operatives to prosecute, demote a couple of senior ones and move on, it worked for Abu Ghraib.
First warning something was wrong was in 2002 over Abu Zubaydah
In 2002 democratic leaders were briefed on enhanced techniques i.e. torture.
Yah, curiosity didn't even get near the cat.