22 July, 2012

"I Really Resent You Using the Word 'Torture'": Q. & A. with Jose Rodriguez : The New Yorker

"I Really Resent You Using the Word 'Torture'": Q. & A. with Jose Rodriguez : The New Yorker: In your book, “Hard Measures,” you write, “I cannot tell how disgusted my former colleagues and I felt to hear ourselves labelled ‘torturers’ by the President of the United States.” That struck me and also confused me a bit. After all, your book argues that practices generally regarded as torture are necessary, and you express pride in carrying them out. Was the problem that the President used the word “torture”? Or just that he spoke openly about something you felt ought to be kept secret?

The practices the C.I.A. used were not torture. If that is the way they are “generally regarded” then the general impression is wrong. That is one of the reasons I wrote “Hard Measures.” The techniques we employed were sometimes harsh, but fell well short of what is torture. My problem with what the President said had nothing to do with secrecy—it had everything to do with the fact that he, too, mischaracterized what was done by C.I.A. officers. These actions were undertaken at the request of his predecessor, judged to be legal and not torture by the Department of Justice, and briefed to appropriate members of Congress.