Calls to reveal the ignominious truth of the "Torture Report" on CIA post-9/11 practices, including from our own Kos signatures and other grassroots organizations, have finally been heard. The Guardian reports that the Senate Intelligence Committee could release it as early as tomorrow, though most of the 6,000 page document "will never see the light of day."
The CIA is bracing for what could be one of the most damaging moments in its history: a public airing of its post-9/11 embrace of torture.
No, my fellow Americans, the most damaging moments in the CIA's history were when agents acting in our name and interests committed the acts of torture themselves.
Despite the fact "Senate investigators determined that the CIA’s embrace of mock-drowning, sleep deprivation, 'stress positions', sensory and dietary manipulation and other torture techniques were ineffective, and the CIA covered up that ineffectiveness by misrepresenting its results to Bush officials, Congress and the public," the Guardian says, George W Bush...
made a show of support for CIA operatives who had participated in torture, calling them...
Valerie Plame. No, he didn't. He called them “patriots.” The man actually called them "patriots."
The Guardian reports that the Torture Report is likely to attract global attention, due to the CIA’s network of unacknowledged prisons in places like Poland, Thailand and Afghanistan. and Bulgaria. and redacted redacted redacted redacted redacted. Human Rights investigators have identified (at least) 54 countries that have cooperated with CIA exceptional American renditions, detentions and interrogations.
The Obama administration has attempted to suppress the report, saying it is concerned over issues of international backlash and "timing":
On Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry called Senator Dianne Feinstein – the California Democrat who spearheaded the inquiry – to urge consideration of what spokeswoman Jen Psaki called the “foreign policy implications” of the report’s timing, suggesting it could inflame anti-American outrage worldwide.
Although I do not pretend to know Mr. Kerry's specific concerns, I would like to know when exactly is a good time to clear the air and finally draw a line under post-9/11 allegations, and realities, of American-sponsored torture?
As I sit here writing just a few miles from my alma mater and the once-home of Valerie Plame, Penn State University, I can only say - expose it. Do not let these crimes remain secrets destroying any more lives. Bare the truth, and like true patriots, bear the burn of sunlight and allow our nation to heal and to hold its head high once again, as we have not been able to do for far too many years now.
I await tomorrow with a heavy heart. I am already so deeply ashamed for my country.