The soon-to-be-released Senate Intelligence Committee report is expected to set the record straight on torture once and for all. But pro-torture dead-enders won’t go down without a fight.
In the face of ample evidence to the contrary, they continue to claim that CIA torture “worked.” And now in a clear of act of projection, former CIA Director Mike Hayden has accused Democrats and NGOs—Human Rights First among them—of trying to pre-spin the report.
Hayden’s attempt to paint those who support public release of the report as partisan doesn’t wash. As Ryan Cooper said in The Week, “Hayden completely mischaracterizes what Human Rights First is doing. The group is trying to restore the bipartisan norm against torture — remember, the Convention Against Torture was one of President Reagan’s proudest accomplishments.”
Indeed, a bipartisan majority voted to declassify key sections of the report, and top Republicans, such as Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, believe the report should be released as much as national security permits.
The truth is that torture became a partisan issue when the Bush-Cheney administration started using it, breaking the bipartisan consensus against it. Torture supporters want to divide the public with their partisan rhetoric, thereby preventing the country from reuniting against this horrific and illegal practice.
