Thank you, President Obama, for 'MONTHS OF FIGHTING' to get the truth released to the public [View all]

[conservaphobe]

AND FOR CALLING TORTURE WHAT IT IS!

President Obama surprised many Americans on Friday when he said at a news conference that, in the wake of September 11, 2001, "We tortured some folks, we did some things that were contrary to our values."

Obama was discussing the CIA's admission that it had snooped on Senate aid computers, which he connected to the US national security community's overreaches after September 11. His comment took many by surprise because he used the T-word — torture — to describe Bush administration practices that for years were described with softened phrases like "enhanced interrogation methods." By using such a clear, charged word, and one that has real legal implications, Obama seemed to have done something very significant.

And that gets to the actual significance of his statement today. Obama has been pushing, for months, for the Senate Intelligence Committee to release its classified 6,300-page report on Bush-era interrogation programs. Intelligence agencies and some lawmakers have opposed releasing the document, which is known colloquially as the "torture report." But Obama has said that opening it up to the public would be crucial for understanding post-9/11 abuses.

After a few months of fighting, Obama got his way: the report could be released to the public as soon as next week. The report is the result of an extensive investigation of rendition, detention, and interrogation programs (sometimes called RDI) and people who have seen it describe it to reporters as showing "horrific, systemic, and widespread" abuses, according to the Daily Beast. It does not use the word torture — a word that can have enormous legal implications if used in such an official document. But Obama does.

http://www.vox.com/2014/8/1/5960317/obama-has-been-calling-bush-era-interrogations-torture-for-years