More Details on the 2005 Torture Memos
Bump and Update: The New York Times has a new article describing the two memos from 2005:
One 2005 opinion gave the Justice Department’s most authoritative legal approval to the harshest agency techniques, including head slapping, exposure to cold and simulated drowning, even when used in combination.The second opinion declared that under some circumstances, such techniques were not “cruel, inhuman or degrading,” a category of treatment that Congress banned in December 2005.
As one Senator opined today:
“I find it unfathomable that the committee tasked with oversight of the C.I.A.’s detention and interrogation program would be provided more information by The New York Times than by the Department of Justice,” Mr. Rockefeller wrote.
As for the timing of the memos:
A senior administration official who insisted on anonymity said the opinion on the “combined effects” of different techniques was approved in May 2005.The opinion that the methods were not cruel or inhuman was approved later in 2005, the official said. Officials have said both opinions remain in effect.
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Original Post
White House Denies Memos Authorized Torture
Predictably, the White House is denying that memos issued in 2005 authorized previously prohibited CIA interrogation techniques that amount to torture.
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