Investigating torture: Should CIA agents take the blame?

Attorney General Eric Holder announced an investigation into whether 10 CIA agents went beyond Bush administration guidelines for “harsh interrogation;” White House officials will not be scrutinized.

“No matter which way he turns, President Obama just can’t seem to shake the legacy of George W. Bush’s presidency,” said Dan Balz in The Washington Post. Obama is now taking fire from both liberals and conservatives after Attorney General Eric Holder announced last week an investigation into whether the CIA broke the law by brutalizing suspected terrorists. The very narrow investigation will determine only if about 10 CIA agents went beyond Bush administration guidelines for “harsh interrogation.” To the dismay of the Left, the White House officials who authorized a host of “harsh interrogation” methods will not be scrutinized. Conservatives, meanwhile, called Holder’s investigation a partisan “witch hunt.”

The CIA agents in question engaged in some shocking behavior, said Scott Shane in The New York Times. According to newly released internal CIA documents, one prisoner was “lifted off the ground by his arms, which were tied behind his back.” Another was repeatedly knocked unconscious when an interrogator wrapped his hands around his carotid artery. Detainees were told that if they didn’t talk, their children and mothers would be dragged in, and killed or tortured; one witnessed a mock execution, complete with a gunshot and a blood-covered body. All that came on top of White House–authorized tactics of waterboarding, dousing with freezing water, and weeks of sleep deprivation.

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