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CIA boss John Brennan defends post 9/11 strategy CIA boss John Brennan defends post-9/11 strategy
(35 minutes later)
CIA Director John Brennan has said some of the agency's interrogation methods after 9/11 were "abhorrent". CIA Director John Brennan has defended the agency's post-9/11 interrogation methods but admitted some techniques were "harsh" and "abhorrent".
But he said overall the interrogation programme implemented after 9/11 yielded information that saved lives. Speaking at CIA headquarters, he said some officers acted beyond their authority but most did their duty.
A scathing Senate report said "brutal" methods like waterboarding and sleep deprivation were ineffective. A scathing Senate report two days earlier said "brutal" methods like waterboarding were ineffective.
Speaking at CIA headquarters, Mr Brennan admitted some officers acted beyond their authority and should have been held accountable. But Mr Brennan asserted the CIA "did a lot of things right" at a time when there were "no easy answers".
But he asserted the CIA "did a lot of things right" in a time when there were "no easy answers" and there were fears of more attacks from al-Qaeda. "Our reviews indicate that the detention and interrogation programme produced useful intelligence that helped the United States thwart attack plans, capture terrorists and save lives," Brennan told a rare CIA news conference in Virginia.
But we have not concluded that it was the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (EITs) within that programme that allowed us to obtain useful information from detainees who were subjected to them, he added.
"The cause-and-effect relationship between the use of EITs and useful information subsequently provided by the detainee is, in my view, unknowable."
While he was speaking, Senator Dianne Feinstein, who heads the committee that produced the report, was rejecting his arguments on Twitter.While he was speaking, Senator Dianne Feinstein, who heads the committee that produced the report, was rejecting his arguments on Twitter.
One tweet said: "Brennan: 'unknowable' if we could have gotten the intel other ways. Study shows it IS knowable: CIA had info before torture. #ReadTheReport".One tweet said: "Brennan: 'unknowable' if we could have gotten the intel other ways. Study shows it IS knowable: CIA had info before torture. #ReadTheReport".
Mr Brennan was a senior CIA official in 2002 when the detention and interrogation programme was put in place.Mr Brennan was a senior CIA official in 2002 when the detention and interrogation programme was put in place.
An outgoing Democratic Senator, Mark Udall, has called on Mr Brennan to quit, citing interference from the CIA in preparing the report.An outgoing Democratic Senator, Mark Udall, has called on Mr Brennan to quit, citing interference from the CIA in preparing the report.
A summary of the larger classified report says that the CIA carried out "brutal" and "ineffective" interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects in the years after the 9/11 attacks on the US and misled other officials about what it was doing.A summary of the larger classified report says that the CIA carried out "brutal" and "ineffective" interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects in the years after the 9/11 attacks on the US and misled other officials about what it was doing.
The information the CIA collected using "enhanced interrogation techniques" failed to secure information that foiled any threats, the report said.The information the CIA collected using "enhanced interrogation techniques" failed to secure information that foiled any threats, the report said.
Mr Brennan described the actions of some CIA agents as "harsh" and "abhorrent" but would not say if it constituted torture.
He added an overwhelming number of CIA agents followed legal advice from the justice department that authorised some of the brutal methods.
"They did what they were asked to do in the service of their nation."
The UN and human rights groups have called for the prosecution of US officials involved in the 2001-2007 programme.The UN and human rights groups have called for the prosecution of US officials involved in the 2001-2007 programme.
"As a matter of international law, the US is legally obliged to bring those responsible to justice," Ben Emmerson, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, said in a statement made from Geneva. But the chances of prosecuting members of the Bush administration are unlikely - the US justice department has pursued two investigations into mistreatment of detainees and found insufficient evidence.
He said there had been a "clear policy orchestrated at a high level".
The chances of prosecuting members of the Bush administration are unlikely - the US justice department has pursued two investigations into mistreatment of detainees and found insufficient evidence.
On Wednesday, an unnamed justice department official told the Los Angeles Times prosecutors had read the report and "did not find any new information" to reopen the investigation.On Wednesday, an unnamed justice department official told the Los Angeles Times prosecutors had read the report and "did not find any new information" to reopen the investigation.
Key findings:Key findings:
What is 'enhanced interrogation'?What is 'enhanced interrogation'?
Who knew what when?Who knew what when?
Who were the detainees?Who were the detainees?
US President Barack Obama, who has acknowledged some methods amounted to torture, has said on Tuesday that he hoped that the publication of the report would "help us leave these techniques where they belong - in the past". US President Barack Obama, who stopped the programme in 2009, said some methods amounted to torture.
Some Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee released a minority report, accusing the Senate of having a "flawed analytical methodology", "inadequate objectivity" and "political considerations". When asked whether there was a situation where the CIA would use similar interrogations again, Mr Brennan said the CIA was "not contemplating" it, but said he left such decisions up to "future policymakers".
However, influential Republican Senator John McCain argued that torture "rarely yields credible information" and that even in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden the most important lead came from "conventional interrogation methods".