Intel Experts Want Torture Investigation

A powerful group of intelligence experts who oppose torture is asking President Obama to investigate torture by the Bush Administration. The group, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), challenged the pre-war lies about Iraq, starting with Colin Powell's speech to the U.N. Of course they were absolutely right - and were ignored by the media.

Now they are battling the widely-accepted lie that torture "works":

The fact that the exploits of Jack Bauer have injected a dangerous level of fiction and fear among impressionable viewers, and have misled not only interrogators at Guantanamo but also the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Silvestre Reyes — not to mention Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia — leaves no doubt that such illusionary scenarios need to be addressed by professionals with real-life experience.

They insist:

torture tactics are not only ineffective in terms of getting reliable, actionable intelligence but have fueled recruitment by Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups to the point that, arguably, more U.S. troops have been killed by terrorists bent on revenge for torture than the 3,000 civilians killed on 9/11;

In effect, Bush's torture regime created a second "9/11" - only the victims were our soldiers.

VIPS wants a "full, truthful, and public fact-finding process" and endorsed "Senator Carl Levin’s suggestion that the attorney general appoint retired judges with solid reputations for integrity to begin the process." They also endorsed a "blue-ribbon commission" like the Church Committee.

The letter was endorsed by these true patriots:

Gene Betit, US Army, DIA, Arlington, VA
Ray Close, National Clandestine Service (CIA), Princeton, NJ
Phil Giraldi, National Clandestine Service (CIA), Purcellville, VA
Larry Johnson, CIA & Department of State, Bethesda, MD
Pat Lang, US Army (Special Forces), DIA, Alexandria, VA
David MacMichael, National Intelligence Council, Linden, VA
Tom Maertens, Department of State, Mankato, MN
Ray McGovern, US Army, CIA, Arlington, VA
Sam Provance, US Army (Abu Ghraib), Greenville, SC
Coleen Rowley, FBI, Apple Valley, MN
Greg Theilmann, Department of State & Senate Intel. Committee staff, Arlington, VA
Ann Wright, US Army, Department of State, Honolulu, HI

These experts were right about Iraq when it mattered, but were ignored by the media. The media has an obligation to correct its catastrophic pre-war failings by paying attention to these experts now.