It has come to light that the Bush administration explicitly endorsed the use of water boarding and other so-called interrogation techniques against al Qaeda suspects. A pair of secret CIA memos from 2003 and 2004, previously undisclosed and classified, were requested by CIA Director George Tenet more than a year after the start of the secret interrogations; this according to administration and intelligence officials familiar with the documents and the Washington Post.
Intelligence officials were worried about possible backlash if the details of the interrogations were made public so they sought cover from the White House, according to the newspaper. It is known that Justice Department lawyers signed off on the agency’s interrogation methods beginning in 2002. However, senior CIA officials were perturbed that policy makers in the White House had never explicitly endorsed the program.
At TicosLand.com, we deplore the use of such interrogation techniques and go so far as to call them what they are, torture. Costa Rica is a neutral country, but it has also come out anything that violates human rights, which these torture techniques clearly do.
Tags: Costa Rica, interrogation techniques, secret memos, water boarding
