The Hunt for the Missing, ‘Missing Memos’

[babylonsister]

The Hunt for the Missing, ‘Missing Memos’
by Christopher Weaver, ProPublica - February 12, 2009 3:15 pm EST


The Obama administration's torture ban <1> could blow the cover on another trove of secret memos describing the Bush administration's views on interrogation and detention of terror suspects.

The existence of the memos became known after the American Civil Liberties Union sued <2> the administration for failing to respond to a now-five-year-old Freedom of Information Act request, but specifics on the 181 classified letters and memos remain secret.

The CIA argued in court filings <3> (PDF) that airing the documents would "neutralize" interrogation techniques, because terrorists can train to keep their lips sealed through the ordeals they expect to face if captured. A few days of successful resistance could mean the difference between an attack foiled and the loss of American lives, not to mention the cost and time required to develop replacement methods, the government has argued.

But that case recently got harder to make. In a Jan. 22 executive order <1>, President Obama forbade any technique not listed in the public Army Field Manual <4> (PDF). Last Friday, the ACLU pointed out in a U.S. Court of Appeals brief <5> (PDF) that the CIA need not worry about terrorists training to resist techniques that the agency is no longer allowed to use.

"Our argument was that if you're not authorized to use the techniques, and aren't using them now, and won't be using them in the future, then what does it matter if they're neutralized," ACLU attorney Eunice Lee, who helped pen the brief, told us.

We posed the ACLU's question to the CIA, but a spokesman, George Little, declined to comment for our story.

more...

http://www.propublica.org/article/the-hunt-for-the-missing-missing-memos-090212

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R