What a surprise! The CIA used torture after 9/11. I agree Dianne Feinstein is brave to have insisted this report be made fully public and I can imagine the pressure put on her from all sides. But most Americans have known in their bones this was the case for many years. There have been movies made about it, for heaven's sake. Sometimes right speech comes way after the knowledge is generally known and understood. Senator Feinstein is still a representative of right speech, because a wrong known but not acknowledged is still festering in a way that harms many.
Now perhaps policies will change, at least officially, and god willing, the CIA cleaned up. Yes, the climate was fearful after 9/11. Yes, we wanted to be safe it seemed, at all costs. But the committee has discovered that the "all costs" were not necessary. We didn't gain our valuable information from torture. It was useless while being morally indefensible. For those who had no boundaries, their one justification is gone.
The CIA has always been a netherworld. It's been out of control and unaccountable. Intelligence gathering could be done with international cooperation, and often is. Countries make alliances to protect their citizens. But the CIA goes rogue when it hides the truth from itself and our government. How much harm has and will come from this period of torture? We have yet to see the final cost.
Senator Feinstein has exercized right speech. Let's see if a secret revealed can heal some of the wounding.
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