Editorial: CIA betrayed American values
Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the Dec. 9, 2014, San Jose Mercury News.
The CIA betrayed American values in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It knew torture was immoral, illegal and nearly always counterproductive as an interrogation tool. Yet acting upon the direction of then President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney — and at times breaking even their trust — the CIA violated the Geneva Conventions dramatically lowered America’s standing as a nation of principle.
The Senate Intelligence Committee report released Tuesday describes outrages that confirm what most Americans already believed. At least the U.S. Senate had the courage to expose the crimes that were committed in this nation’s panicked attempt to win the war on terrorism. We can only hope this exposure helps return us to the moral high ground.
This is the blackest mark on the United States’ moral standing since it interned Japanese-Americans during World War II.