SIOUX FALLS (AP) - Republican and Democratic members of South Dakota's congressional delegation have differing views on a Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA interrogation tactics.
The report released Tuesday says the U.S. brutalized scores of terror suspects with interrogation tactics that turned secret CIA prisons into chambers of suffering and did nothing to make America safer after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
It was the first public accounting of tactics employed after 9/11, and it detailed far-harsher actions than had been widely known, such as simulated drowning, weeks of sleep deprivation and confinement to small boxes.
Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., told USA Today that releasing the report was the right thing to do.
"The American people deserve to know the truth - that the CIA tortured detainees during the Bush administration using interrogation practices contrary to our American values," he said. "We are stronger as a nation when we admit our mistakes, learn from the past and move forward."
ADVERTISEMENT
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said that while some of the findings of the report are disturbing, the "conclusions are misleading and do not represent all the facts."
"With growing national security threats from our enemies around the globe, the release of this report on a program that ended eight years ago puts our military and intelligence operatives in jeopardy today," he said.
Rep. Kristi Noem, R.-S.D., said she worries the report could allow the country's enemies to promote aggression against the U.S.
"Congress must continue to provide thorough oversight over our intelligence activities, but the manner in which this was done puts America in danger and does our country little to no good," she said.
