Obama Says U.S. Terror Memos Expose ‘Dark and Painful Chapter’

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Obama Says U.S. Terror Memos Expose ‘Dark and Painful Chapter'

April 17 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said he wants to move past “a dark and painful chapter” by exposing Bush administration legal memos that authorized harsh tactics in the interrogation of suspected terrorists.

The U.S. Justice Department released four memos yesterday - - with some material blacked out -- that show the agency’s lawyers approved the Central Intelligence Agency’s use of such techniques as sleep deprivation, slapping, nudity and waterboarding to simulate drowning.

The Obama administration ruled out prosecuting government interrogators who relied on the memos in questioning suspects.

“We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history,” Obama said in a statement. “Nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past.” Obama said making the documents public won’t jeopardize national security.

In one of the memos, lawyers approved putting a high- ranking al-Qaeda suspect in a cramped box and telling him an insect in the box could sting him. The idea was discarded, the memos say, “for reasons unrelated to any concern” it might be unlawful.

Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement that intelligence officials who relied on the Justice Department’s legal advice won’t be prosecuted for carrying out what critics called torture. The memos, written from 2002 to 2005, were released in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Banning Torture

The Bush administration legal advice no longer represents the views of the Justice Department, officials said. The memos offered legal arguments for why the techniques didn’t violate U.S. prohibitions on torture, and described steps the CIA said it would take to prevent detainees from being injured.

The ACLU, which sued to force disclosure of the memos in their entirety, said in a statement that anyone who “gave legal blessings to acts of torture” should be prosecuted. “No one is above the law,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in the statement.

The memos revealed that the Justice Department approved placing Abu Zubaydah, a reputed al-Qaeda leader and associate of Osama Bin Laden, in a cramped box with an insect.

“You have informed us that he appears to have a fear of insects,” Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee said in an Aug. 1, 2002, memo to the CIA. “In particular, you would like to tell Zubaydah that you intend to place a stinging insect into the box with him. You would, however, place a harmless insect in the box.”

Guantanamo Bay

Zubaydah, who is being held at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility, hasn’t been charged by the U.S.

CIA Director Leon Panetta told agency employees they can be “fully confident that, as you defend the nation, I will defend you.” His message to them said there would be no prosecutions for people who relied upon Justice Department assurances that they acted legally.

Holder said in his statement, “It would be unfair to prosecute dedicated men and women working to protect America for conduct that was sanctioned in advance by the Justice Department.” He said the government will provide lawyers to help officials who are sued.

Much of the information in the memos has been revealed before in news reports and by officials. Last year, then-CIA Director Michael Hayden told Congress the agency used waterboarding on three terror suspects in 2002 and 2003: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged planner of the Sept. 11 attacks; Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a suspected al-Qaeda leader behind the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000; and Zubaydah.

Specifics on Procedures

The memos provided specifics on procedures the CIA said it would use in interrogating detainees.

CIA interrogators would “watch for signs of physical distress or mental harm” and have medical officers present to prevent “severe physical or mental pain or suffering,” according to a May 10, 2005, memo written by Steven Bradbury, principal deputy assistant attorney general at the time.

The techniques the CIA wanted to use, the memo said, included substituting liquid meals for solids, nudity to cause “psychological discomfort” and grabbing the suspect at the collar with each hand in a quick motion to get his attention.

A memo written by Bradbury on May 30, 2005, said the CIA’s “enhanced” interrogation of Zubaydah provided “significant information” about terrorist plans, including one by Jose Padilla to build a “dirty bomb” and set it off in the Washington area.

Supporting Terrorists

Padilla was convicted last year of supporting terrorists and conspiring to commit murder. He wasn’t charged in connection with the dirty bomb allegation.

Senator Christopher “Kit” Bond, a Republican from Missouri, criticized the Obama administration for releasing the memos.

“It doesn’t take an intelligence analyst to figure out that broadcasting to al-Qaeda exactly what techniques may be used in an interrogation is a really bad idea,” Bond said in a statement.

Words and sentences in the memos were blacked out by the CIA, according to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity. George Little, a CIA spokesman, declined to comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Blum in Washington at jblum4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 17, 2009 00:00 EDT

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