CIA Chief Defends Interrogation Procedure
WASHINGTON (AP) -- CIA Director Porter Goss defended the U.S. practice of shipping some foreign prisoners to other nations for interrogation, saying this intelligence strategy is valuable, lawful and carried out with caution.
"I can assure you that I know of no instances where the intelligence community is outside the law on this," Goss testified to Congress. "And I know for a fact that torture is not productive. That's not professional interrogation. We don't do torture."
Concerns about the process known as rendition had Goss facing sharp questions Thursday from Senate Armed Services Committee Democrats and Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican and former Vietnam era prisoner of war.
Goss steadfastly asserted that this interrogation strategy is an important intelligence tool and is vital for the protection of U.S. civilians and fighting forces.
The CIA inspector general is looking into at least four cases in which agency personnel may have been involved in the death of a detainee and other issues related to U.S. detention policies. He has referred one case to the Justice Department for prosecution, resulting in assault charges against CIA contractor David Passaro.
Democrats, including Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, are growing impatient for the results of the CIA report, requested last year by the former director, George Tenet. "This is a huge missing piece," Levin said.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., asked Goss whether the government is using a review process set up by the Clinton administration to determine when to approve "renditions," or the transfer of foreigners to another country for prosecution and detention.
U.S. authorities have flown at least 100 foreigners to countries including Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The administration has said it seeks assurances that the subject will not be tortured, but critics say the practice simply allows the United States to outsource the dirty work.
Goss, however, defended renditions as a 20-year-old practice with established policies. "I actually believe that since 9/11 ... we have more safeguards and more oversight in place than we did before," he said.
McCain said he was concerned that the government lacks a specific policy about what interrogators can and cannot do when questioning prisoners.
Goss replied that the uncertainties are largely resolved and, where they do exist, officials err on the side of caution.
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