IG’s report reveals interrogator restricted detainee’s carotid artery
Published: August 24, 2009
Updated 6 months ago
A CIA inspector general’s report written in 2004 was released in a less-redacted version Monday, revealing new details of the agency’s torture techniques applied to terror war prisoners.
Page 77 of the report discusses “unauthorized or undocumented techniques” used by CIA agents but not approved by the Bush administration’s Department of Justice. One such “improvised action” was a pressure point tactic: the compression of a detainee’s carotid artery by an agent with both hands around the prisoner’s neck.
Prolonged compression of the carotid artery is lethal, as it cuts off blood flow to the brain.
“The extent of these actions is illustrative of the consequences of the lack of clear guidance at the time and the Agency’s insufficient attention to interrogations in [redacted],” the report says.
The document also describes a 2003 incident in which an independent contractor beat an Afghan man with a large, metal flashlight. The man later died in U.S. custody and his body was turned over to his family without an autopsy. The contractor was not prosecuted, but the CIA did not extend his paid term. The inspector general notes that the Department of Justice is investigating the incident.
Page 87 also cites an agent who assaulted a religious school teacher who smiled at him and “laughed inappropriately” when asked about the remote detonation of a bomb that killed eight people. The man was struck twice with the butt of an assault rifle but not seriously injured. The report also says that over 200 students witnessed the assault. The agent was taken out of the field for counseling and “given a domestic assignment.”
The IG’s report further states, “there is no doubt the Program has been effective” (P. 93) in producing material for finished intelligence reports. However, “[measuring] the effectiveness of the [enhanced interrogation techniques],” the document notes, “is a more subjective process and not without some concern.”
“In an interview, the DCI said he believes the use of [torture] has proven to be extremely valuable in obtaining enormous amounts of critical threat information from detainees who had otherwise believed they were safe from any harm in the hands of Americans,” the report continues (P. 97). “Inasmuch as [torture has] been used only since August 2002, and they have not all been used with every high value detainee, there is limited data on which to assess their individual effectiveness.”
It also notes that the techniques are “inconsistent with the public policy positions that the U.S. has taken regarding human rights.”
The report’s entire recommendations section (P. 114) is censored.
U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. is reportedly in the process of appointing a special prosecutor to investigate instances of CIA detainee abuse.
Read the full report below, uploaded by The Washington Independent.
The Washington Post has the full report for download (PDF link).
Ron Brynaert contributed to this report.
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I’ve seen torture devices from the Middle Ages and Inquisition in museums, and some of them don’t seem much worse than the stuff emerging from this and other past reports. Stuff like the rack, the boot, thumbscrews, the wheel - nasty, yes, but worse than a drill? I know, supposedly the drill wasn’t actually used, but if it had been used, it would have been just as bad. Besides, we will never know the full story of the kinds of torture used.
This is just the Rated G - PG stuff. I can just imagine the Rated R and XXX revelations.
The Horror! It should send Chills down every Law Abiding Americans spine.
Be careful when dealing with monsters, that you dont become one. We are just as responsible for this if we are silent about what our govt. did in our name..I want the country back our founding fathers gave us with the bill of rights and constitution..The whole truth will come out what they did to the world..It will………………….We have to clean our own house first.
He used both hands to restrict the carotid. You try it for 10 seconds see if tha’ts not the same as stragulation with bare hands. Rapid Oxidation is the same as a fire.
Re-assigned to domestic duty??? CIA?? Domestic duty???
What a joke. The CIA AG report! Bah, this is the SAME CIA that “accidentally” erased all video torture evidence.
How does the CIA “accidentally” erase archived digital footage across redundant servers? Seriously, whats more embarrassing is that the CIA plays everyone a fool and gets away with it.
Who’s going to be the next scape goat? A contractor that beat some guy to death with a flashlight? Such BS, this goes higher ranks, right up to commander in chief puppet master Cheney. This is why our founding fathers didn’t want to have a standing army. No fear of a military coup here, nope. The military IS already in control. Too late, game over, move along sheep.
It blows me away that we as a society (yep even the dumb ones) already acknowledge how morally and ethically corrupt the military has become. Look towards all the Hollywood blockbusters with major plots involving a corrupt military. Art reflects life. We’ve become so callous that we accept this behavior instead of demanding that it cease.
The CIA is a criminal organization. They’ve been torturing, murdering, overthrowing governments (including our own) and doing medical and epidemiological experiments on people, including Americans, for decades. They’re also one of the largest drug smuggling mafias in the world. (We know who the Colombian cartel bosses are. We know who the Mexican drug kingpins are. Why don’t we know who controls distribution in the US?). I suspect the CIA can basically control the US government and media at will now.
So what are we going to do about it?
Your post just about sums it up..
I can hardly wait for the exposing of the Rothschild//CIA Mk Ultra Program upon the citizens of the USA…
Wait till Americans find out how many Americans the CIA have KILLED,CRIPPLED,or had there life messed with…