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| Obama Catches Blame on Tactics of Torture That He Ended | Obama Catches Blame on Tactics of Torture That He Ended |
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| WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday found himself caught in the middle of a collision between the Central Intelligence Agency and his own Democratic allies, who accused the White House of helping to cover up a legacy of torture and put the president on the defensive over an interrogation program he never supported. | WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday found himself caught in the middle of a collision between the Central Intelligence Agency and his own Democratic allies, who accused the White House of helping to cover up a legacy of torture and put the president on the defensive over an interrogation program he never supported. |
| A day after the Senate Intelligence Committee released a blistering report on the C.I.A.’s interrogations of terrorism suspects a decade ago, Mr. Obama, who banned such methods when he took office, came under fire from Democrats on the committee for declining to endorse the report’s conclusion that they were ineffective and standing by the C.I.A. director, John O. Brennan. | |
| Mr. Obama’s attempt to find a balance on a polarizing issue inherited from his predecessor was seen by those critics as a failure to hold the agency accountable. | |
| Senator Mark Udall of Colorado, a Democrat on the committee and a longtime critic of the C.I.A. interrogations, took to the Senate floor to excoriate the agency for failing to come to terms with its mistakes and the White House for enabling its deceptions. | |
| “Director Brennan and the C.I.A. today are continuing to willfully provide inaccurate information to misrepresent the efficacy of torture,” Mr. Udall said. “In other words, the C.I.A. is lying.” | “Director Brennan and the C.I.A. today are continuing to willfully provide inaccurate information to misrepresent the efficacy of torture,” Mr. Udall said. “In other words, the C.I.A. is lying.” |
| He added that the president should “purge” the agency leadership, including Mr. Brennan. “There can be no cover-up,” Mr. Udall said. “There can be no excuses. If there is no moral leadership from the White House helping the public understand that the C.I.A.’s torture program wasn’t necessary and didn’t save lives or disrupt terrorist plots, then what’s to stop the next White House and C.I.A. director from supporting torture?” | |
| Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, another Democrat on the committee, echoed the sentiment. “I would hope there would be a bit of a housecleaning from the White House given the results of this report,” he said in an interview. “The fundamental problem here is not just what happened but the continued resistance of the leadership of this agency to the basics of oversight.” | Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, another Democrat on the committee, echoed the sentiment. “I would hope there would be a bit of a housecleaning from the White House given the results of this report,” he said in an interview. “The fundamental problem here is not just what happened but the continued resistance of the leadership of this agency to the basics of oversight.” |
| Mr. Brennan has adamantly denied that the C.I.A. deliberately misled the public and plans to defend the agency in a speech at its headquarters on Thursday. The White House defended him on Wednesday. “John Brennan is a decorated professional and a patriot,” said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary. “And he is somebody that the president relies on on a daily basis to keep this country safe.” | |
| After Tuesday’s release of the executive summary of the report, Mr. Obama repeated his belief that the techniques used after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, constituted torture and betrayed American values. But he declined to address the fundamental question raised by the report: Did they produce meaningful intelligence to stop terrorist attacks, or did the C.I.A. mislead the White House and the public about their effectiveness as the committee asserted? | After Tuesday’s release of the executive summary of the report, Mr. Obama repeated his belief that the techniques used after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, constituted torture and betrayed American values. But he declined to address the fundamental question raised by the report: Did they produce meaningful intelligence to stop terrorist attacks, or did the C.I.A. mislead the White House and the public about their effectiveness as the committee asserted? |
| That debate put Mr. Obama between two allies: the close adviser and former aide he installed as director of the C.I.A. versus Democrats on the Intelligence Committee and the liberal base that backs their findings. Instead, the president hoped to convince the public that the issue has now been confronted and resolved since he signed an order barring the controversial interrogation techniques shortly after taking office in January 2009. | That debate put Mr. Obama between two allies: the close adviser and former aide he installed as director of the C.I.A. versus Democrats on the Intelligence Committee and the liberal base that backs their findings. Instead, the president hoped to convince the public that the issue has now been confronted and resolved since he signed an order barring the controversial interrogation techniques shortly after taking office in January 2009. |
| “He’s between a rock and a hard place,” said Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at the Fordham University School of Law. “The intelligence agency has become the lead agency in national security, and therefore he’s beholden to it, and there’s no getting around that. It’s much bigger than before 9/11. It’s not just about Brennan.” | “He’s between a rock and a hard place,” said Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at the Fordham University School of Law. “The intelligence agency has become the lead agency in national security, and therefore he’s beholden to it, and there’s no getting around that. It’s much bigger than before 9/11. It’s not just about Brennan.” |
| Indeed, in a written statement and a pair of television interviews after the report was released on Tuesday, Mr. Obama stressed his respect for the “patriots” of the C.I.A. who worked to guard the nation in an uncertain and dangerous period, even as he concluded that the methods they used “did significant damage to America’s standing in the world.” | Indeed, in a written statement and a pair of television interviews after the report was released on Tuesday, Mr. Obama stressed his respect for the “patriots” of the C.I.A. who worked to guard the nation in an uncertain and dangerous period, even as he concluded that the methods they used “did significant damage to America’s standing in the world.” |
| While that frustrated critics of the C.I.A. who wanted a more unambiguous condemnation of torture and its architects, others said his comments struck a reasonable middle ground. “They seemed measured and responsible,” said Cesar Conda, an adviser to Republicans like former Vice President Dick Cheney and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. “He’s walking a fine line between his base and his duties as commander in chief.” | While that frustrated critics of the C.I.A. who wanted a more unambiguous condemnation of torture and its architects, others said his comments struck a reasonable middle ground. “They seemed measured and responsible,” said Cesar Conda, an adviser to Republicans like former Vice President Dick Cheney and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. “He’s walking a fine line between his base and his duties as commander in chief.” |
| Instead, Republicans and supporters of the C.I.A. saved their fire for the Senate Democrats who issued the report. Mr. Cheney, in his first public comments since its release, said he had read only summaries of it but denounced the report as “full of crap” and said it was a “flat-out lie” to suggest that President George W. Bush was kept in the dark about details of the program. | Instead, Republicans and supporters of the C.I.A. saved their fire for the Senate Democrats who issued the report. Mr. Cheney, in his first public comments since its release, said he had read only summaries of it but denounced the report as “full of crap” and said it was a “flat-out lie” to suggest that President George W. Bush was kept in the dark about details of the program. |
| “He knew certainly the techniques,” Mr. Cheney said on Fox News. “We did discuss the techniques. There was no effort on our part to keep him from that.” | “He knew certainly the techniques,” Mr. Cheney said on Fox News. “We did discuss the techniques. There was no effort on our part to keep him from that.” |
| Mr. Cheney scoffed at the suggestion that methods like waterboarding, nudity, slapping and sleep deprivation violated human rights. “How nice do you want to be to the murderers of 3,000 Americans?” he asked. | Mr. Cheney scoffed at the suggestion that methods like waterboarding, nudity, slapping and sleep deprivation violated human rights. “How nice do you want to be to the murderers of 3,000 Americans?” he asked. |
| For Mr. Obama, the report reopened a fight he had tried to avoid for nearly six years. Although he denounced torture during his 2008 campaign, he has resisted pressure from activists to pursue those responsible. His Justice Department re-examined cases of prisoner abuse but did not prosecute anyone, and Mr. Obama rejected the creation of a “truth commission” and backed the C.I.A. in seeking redactions of the Senate report. | |
| Mr. Obama supported the release of the declassified summary and said it should help ensure that the country never again violates its fundamental values. But as a president receiving regular briefings on terrorist threats, he sees the situation differently than he did as a candidate, aides have said. In his statement Tuesday, he expressed empathy for the “agonizing choices” Mr. Bush faced, and in an interview with Telemundo, he declined to say what he would have done in the same circumstances. | Mr. Obama supported the release of the declassified summary and said it should help ensure that the country never again violates its fundamental values. But as a president receiving regular briefings on terrorist threats, he sees the situation differently than he did as a candidate, aides have said. In his statement Tuesday, he expressed empathy for the “agonizing choices” Mr. Bush faced, and in an interview with Telemundo, he declined to say what he would have done in the same circumstances. |
| At his daily briefing, Mr. Obama’s spokesman, Mr. Earnest, spent an hour deflecting questions about whether the president believed the interrogations were ineffective and whether anyone should be punished. He repeatedly referred the second question to the Justice Department. “That is not a question for the president of the United States,” Mr. Earnest said. | At his daily briefing, Mr. Obama’s spokesman, Mr. Earnest, spent an hour deflecting questions about whether the president believed the interrogations were ineffective and whether anyone should be punished. He repeatedly referred the second question to the Justice Department. “That is not a question for the president of the United States,” Mr. Earnest said. |
| Mr. Udall argued that it was. His outcry on the Senate floor put the question of Mr. Obama’s support for Mr. Brennan squarely on the table. The senator said Mr. Brennan’s response to the Senate inquiry contradicted information in a review ordered by his predecessor, Leon E. Panetta, that mirrored the committee findings. | Mr. Udall argued that it was. His outcry on the Senate floor put the question of Mr. Obama’s support for Mr. Brennan squarely on the table. The senator said Mr. Brennan’s response to the Senate inquiry contradicted information in a review ordered by his predecessor, Leon E. Panetta, that mirrored the committee findings. |
| It was that review that incited a battle this year between Mr. Brennan and the committee. When C.I.A. officers suspected that the committee had improperly gained access to secure sections of the agency’s computers, they read the emails of committee investigators. Mr. Brennan apologized, but the incident exacerbated tensions between committee Democrats and the C.I.A. | |
| “The C.I.A. has lied to its overseers and the public, destroyed and tried to hold back evidence, spied on the Senate, made false charges against our staff, and lied about torture and the results of torture,” said Mr. Udall, who lost re-election last month. “And no one has been held to account.” | |
| Other Democrats expressed more understanding of the president’s predicament. “You’re always going to have some tension even within an administration,” Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania said in an interview. “Sometimes the tension can’t be accommodated, but that’s a decision he’ll have to make.” |