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CIA torture report will head to Obama's desk

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 26, 2014 7:33AM GMT

US President Barack Obama is to either approve or redact a summary of a lengthy report on CIA torture practices prepared by the US Senate Intelligence Committee after the panel votes to make the summary public.

A panel vote to unveil the report is expected to be held this week and Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-California) says she has the necessary votes to make the summary of the 6,300-page report public.

Nevertheless, sources familiar with the process and committee rules have told Politico that this is Obama who decides whether the report should be further redacted before being disclosed.

While Obama has said that he is "absolutely committed" to releasing the Senate report, the CIA will likely recommend further redaction to the summary of the report.

"The American people deserve a proper and accurate accounting of the history, management, operation, and effectiveness of this program," Intelligence Committee member Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colorado) wrote in a letter to Obama on Thursday.

"We can finally correct the record, move past this dark chapter in our history and become a stronger nation for confronting our mistakes," added Udall who complained to Obama earlier this month about the CIA's efforts to block the de-classification of the report.

The report, which cost $40 million and took nearly four years to compose, "uncovers startling details about the CIA detention and interrogation program and raises critical questions about intelligence operations and oversight," according to Feinstein.

In addition to detailing the CIA's illegal practices, the report reveals that the spy agency misled the White House, the Department of Justice, and Congress about the 'effectiveness' of its controversial torture techniques.

The Senate panel reviewed more than six million pages of CIA documents and other records on the agency's controversial programs in order to compose the report.

The CIA has not accepted some of the report's conclusions and has resisted the push from some of the Senate panel's members for the release of the report.

ISH/ISH