The Ten Techniques and the 100th Betrayal
The New York Times has its hands on another classified report, this one concerning the “ten techniques” of interrogation that was issued by the CIA’s Inspector General John Helgerson in the “spring of 2004:”
The report, by John L. Helgerson, the C.I.A.’s inspector general, did not conclude that the techniques constituted torture, which is also prohibited under American law, the officials said. But Mr. Helgerson did find, the officials said, that the techniques appeared to constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under the convention.
Only one of the 10 techniques is specified: “waterboarding, in which a prisoner is strapped to a board and made to believe that he is drowning.”
So, who gave the Times the report? Was the transfer illegal? Is this the second phase of the CIA’s campaign agau=inst the Bush Administration?
Yesterday the CIA requested a Department of Justice investigation into a leak to the Washington Post of classified information regarding secret detention facilities for al Qaeda suspects held overseas. The agency should send a follow up and ask that investigation extend to this leak as well.