The US spy chief would not identify what CIA interrogators are allowed to do in getting information from terror suspects, but tried to assure critics that torture is not condoned or used.
US National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell, in a rare broadcast interview on Sunday, defended a new order from US President George W. Bush that broadly outlines the limits of how suspects may be questioned in the CIA's terror interrogation program.
The executive order bans torture, cruel and inhumane treatment, sexual abuse, acts intended to denigrate a religion or other degradation "beyond the bounds of human decency."
PHOTO: AP/MEET THE PRESS
It pledges that detainees will receive adequate food, water and medical care and be protected from extreme heat and cold.
It does not, however, say what techniques are permitted during harsh questioning of suspects -- a matter of debate in the US and elsewhere.
McConnell would not elaborate.
"If I announce what the specific measures are, it would aid those who want to resist those measures," McConnell said. "So I won't be too specific."
When asked if the permissible techniques would be troubling to the US people if the enemy used them against a US citizen, McConnell said: "I would not want a US citizen to go through the process. But it is not torture, and there would be no permanent damage to that citizen."
Bush's order is intended in part to quell international criticism of some of the CIA's most debated work.
In the past, CIA methods are believed to have included sleep deprivation and disorientation, exposing prisoners to uncomfortable cold or heat for long periods, stress positions and a simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding.
Without getting specific, Bush's homeland security adviser, Frances Fragos Townsend, said some techniques used earlier are no longer allowed.
"It's a different program going forward today, that's correct," she said.
Human rights groups have decried the CIA's methods and said the agency's techniques have eroded the US' reputation.
McConnell and Townsend both said Sunday that the program has undoubtedly saved lives. Townsend said the CIA program must be sustainable when looked at from both a policy standpoint and "a political point of view."
The order specifically refers to captured al-Qaeda suspects who may have information on attack plans or the whereabouts of the group's senior leaders.
"Because they believe these techniques might involve torture and they don't understand them, they tend to speak to us ... in a very candid way," McConnell said.
McConnell, who took over as spy chief in February, oversees 16 US intelligence agencies.
Last fall, Congress instructed the White House to draft an executive order as part of the Military Commissions Act, which outlined the rules for trying terrorism suspects.
The bill barred torture, rape and other war crimes that clearly would have violated the Geneva Conventions, but allowed Bush to determine -- through executive order -- whether less harsh interrogation methods can be used.
Since the CIA's five-year-old terror detention program began, 97 terror suspects are believed to have been held by the agency at locations around the world.
McConnell spoke on NBC's Meet the Press. Townsend spoke on Fox News Sunday and CNN's Late Edition.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in