The CIA report about torture practiced by the United States "would never happen" in nations that do not value human rights such as North Korea or China, says Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.
"It exposes what the world already knows, and that is that the United States engaged in torture," McCaskill, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on
"CBS This Morning" on Monday.
The Democratic-led
Senate Intelligence Committee is expected to release a report alleging that the CIA engaged in torture under former President George W. Bush, but that it withheld from the administration its use of waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation" techniques.
"The world knows we torture, but does the world know yet that we'll hold up our values and hold our government accountable?" the Missouri Democrat asked.
"This report would never happen in North Korea or China or Russia, but in the United States, we hold our government accountable," she said.
The report has largely been panned by former Bush administration intelligence officials. And while Obama administration officials support the release, Secretary of State John Kerry has asked that the Senate committee reconsider the timing of the release.
McCaskill admits that what the Intelligence Committee's report will reveal is "very damaging," she says that "it's essential that this report comes out," adding that this "process is so important, so fundamental to our democracy."
She contends that the "CIA has to have oversight," and "if this report doesn't come out, we have to get comfortable with the fact that in America that the CIA doesn't have any oversight."
In addition, she says that "the report will help us understand whether or not the torture was effective."
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