A decorated ex-CIA officer says the Senate Democrats' so-called "torture report" that blasts the CIA for its use of "enhanced interrogation" on terror suspects is "pure politics" and exposes the hypocrisy of the Obama administration.
"The release of this is just pure politics," Gary Berntsen said Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
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"The president wanted this released because it validated his attacks on his predecessor, George Bush … [but] the president and this administration is talking out of both sides of their mouth.
"At one point they're saying, oh it's not so bad, it's not going to cause a threat, and on the other hand they're sending out messages across the Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa to all our embassies that you may be under increased threat right now, so prepare yourselves."
The report — released Tuesday by Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired by Sen. Dianne Feinstein — says the CIA misled Congress and White House officials about its interrogations of terror suspects and mismanaged a program that was far more brutal and less effective than publicly portrayed.
It told of techniques such as waterboarding, rectal feeding, forced nudity, and extended periods of confinement in a coffin-sized box.
Berntsen — president of The Berntsen Group and the author of
"Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander," written with Ralph Pezzullo and published by Broadway Books — added:
"What's so bad about this is we are facing a real threat right now from ISIS. The threat from ISIS is five times greater than what we faced from al-Qaida 14 years ago. The number of attacks worldwide, terrorists attacks, has increased tenfold.
"If we go to a live nation right now with a sensitive project and say we need your help, they're much less likely to want to help us, especially if we say, do this with us and we'll keep this secret."
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