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The US Senate has voted to recommend declassification of part of its report into “brutal” interrogation methods used by the CIA when questioning terror suspects.
But the Senate Intelligence Committee officials say it will be some time before the summary is made public.
Leaked parts of the report showed that the CIA often misled the government over its interrogation methods when George W. Bush was president.
The CIA disputes some of the findings, saying the report contains errors.
Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein said that it had voted 11-3 to declassify what she called the “shocking” results of the investigation.
“The report exposes brutality that stands in stark contrast to our values as a nation. It chronicles a stain on our history that must never be allowed to happen again. This is not what Americans do,” California Democrat Dianne Feinstein said.
Senate report showed that the CIA often misled the government over its interrogation methods when George W. Bush was president
Correspondents say that while some of the committee’s Republicans voted with the Democrats in favor of declassifying the report, it was clear there were bitter divides within the panel.
Georgia Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss said that while he voted for the report’s declassification “to get it behind us”, it was still “a waste of time”.
A statement released by Dianne Feinstein said that the report highlighted “major problems” with the CIA’s management of its secret Detention and Interrogation Program, which involved more than 100 detainees.
“This is also deeply troubling and shows why oversight of intelligence agencies in a democratic nation is so important,” the statement said.
“The release of this summary and conclusions in the near future shows that this nation admits its errors, as painful as they may be, and seeks to learn from them.
“It is now abundantly clear that, in an effort to prevent further terrorist attacks after 9/11 and bring those responsible to justice, the CIA made serious mistakes that haunt us to this day.”
The statement said that the full 6,200-page report – which took five years to compile – has been updated and will be declassified at a later time.
It said that the executive summary, findings and conclusions – which total more than 500 pages – will be sent to President Barack Obama for declassification review and subsequent public release.
Leaks of the report in the Washington Post on Tuesday said that the CIA used secret “black sites” to interrogate prisoners using techniques not previously acknowledged.
These included dunking suspects in icy water and smashing a prisoner’s head against a wall.
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According to a long-awaited US Senate report, the CIA repeatedly misled the government over the severity and effectiveness of its interrogation methods.
The Washington Post revealed Senate report said that the CIA used secret “black sites” to interrogate prisoners using techniques not previously acknowledged.
These included dunking suspects in icy water and smashing a prisoner’s head against a wall.
The findings stem from the time of former President George W. Bush.
Officials familiar with the secret document said that the CIA’s interrogation program yielded little useful intelligence.
CIA repeatedly misled the US government over the severity and effectiveness of its interrogation methods from the time of President George W. Bush
They also said that this intelligence had then been exaggerated so that the interrogation program looked more effective than it actually was.
The report is the result of a wide-ranging investigation by the Senate intelligence committee into CIA activities which began in 2009.
The committee will meet on Thursday to decide on whether to send a summarized version to President Barack Obama for eventual public release.
Officials at the CIA’s headquarters ordered officers to continue with harsh interrogations even after they were convinced that the prisoners had no more information to give, the Washington Post said.
One official said that almost all the valuable intelligence from al-Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaida was gained before he was waterboarded 83 times.
The report also spoke of divisions within the CIA in protest at the conditions prisoners were forced to endure.
A CIA spokesman told the Washington Post the agency had not yet seen a final version of the report and so could not officially comment on its contents.
However, current and former officials told the paper privately that the 6,300 page study contained factual errors and misguided conclusions.
Earlier in March the head of the Senate intelligence committee accused the CIA of improperly accessing Senate computers during the investigation.
Senator Dianne Feinstein said that the alleged hacking “may have undermined the constitutional framework” of government oversight.
Ex-First Lady Barbara Bush has been admitted to a Houston hospital with a “respiratory related issue”, the family said in a statement.
Barbara Bush, 88, the wife of ex-President George H.W. Bush and mother of ex-President George W. Bush, was admitted to the Houston Methodist Hospital on Monday and was listed as being in stable condition.
“She is in great spirits, has already received visits from her husband and family, and is receiving fantastic care,” the family statement said.
Barbara Bush has been admitted to a Houston hospital with a respiratory related issue
Last week Barbara Bush and her husband, the 41st president, honored a Houston philanthropist with a Points of Light Award, a volunteer service award started by the former president.
Barbara Bush was admitted to the same hospital in 2008 after she suffered a perforated ulcer. She had heart surgery the next year for a narrowing of her main heart valve.
In 2010, Barbara Bush was admitted to the hospital after having a mild relapse of Graves disease, a thyroid condition for which she was treated in 1989.
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George W. Bush has undergone successful heart surgery in Dallas, Texas, after doctors found an artery blockage, a spokesman has said.
The former US president had a stent inserted on Tuesday morning, a day after the blockage was discovered during a routine check-up.
George W. Bush has undergone successful heart surgery in Dallas after doctors found an artery blockage
George Bush, 67, was in “high spirits” afterwards and would be discharged on Wednesday, the spokesman added.
The Republican planned to return to his usual schedule on Thursday and encouraged everyone see the doctor regularly.
“President Bush is in high spirits, eager to return home tomorrow and resume his normal schedule on Thursday,” his office said after the procedure.
George W. Bush held office for two terms from 2001-2009, and before that was the governor of Texas.
Since leaving office, George W. Bush has retreated from public life. He lives in Dallas with his wife, former First Lady Laura Bush.
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Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said that Tony Blair and George W. Bush should be taken to the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the Iraq war.
Writing in the UK’s Observer newspaper, Desmond Tutu accused the former leaders of lying about weapons of mass destruction.
The Iraq military campaign had made the world more unstable “than any other conflict in history”, he said.
Tony Blair responded by saying “this is the same argument we have had many times with nothing new to say”.
Earlier this week, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a veteran peace campaigner who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 in recognition of his campaign against apartheid, pulled out of a leadership summit in Johannesburg because he refused to share a platform with Tony Blair.
The former Archbishop of Cape Town said the US- and UK-led action launched against Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003 had brought about conditions for the civil war in Syria and a possible Middle East conflict involving Iran.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said that Tony Blair and George W. Bush should be taken to the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the Iraq war
“The then leaders of the United States [George Bush] and Great Britain [Tony Blair] fabricated the grounds to behave like playground bullies and drive us further apart. They have driven us to the edge of a precipice where we now stand – with the specter of Syria and Iran before us,” he said.
He added: “The question is not whether Saddam Hussein was good or bad or how many of his people he massacred. The point is that Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair should not have allowed themselves to stoop to his immoral level.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu said the death toll as a result of military action in Iraq since 2003 was grounds for Tony Blair and George Bush to be tried in The Hague.
But he said different standards appeared to be applied to Western leaders.
He said: “On these grounds, alone, in a consistent world, those responsible should be treading the same path as some of their African and Asian peers who have been made to answer for their actions in The Hague.”
In response to Sunday’s article, Tony Blair issued a strongly worded defence of his decisions.
Tony Blair said: “To repeat the old canard that we lied about the intelligence [on weapons of mass destruction] is completely wrong as every single independent analysis of the evidence has shown.
“And to say that the fact that Saddam massacred hundreds of thousands of his citizens is irrelevant to the morality of removing him is bizarre.
“We have just had the memorials both of the Halabja massacre, where thousands of people were murdered in one day by Saddam’s use of chemical weapons, and that of the Iran-Iraq war where casualties numbered up to a million, including many killed by chemical weapons.
“In addition, his slaughter of his political opponents, the treatment of the Marsh Arabs and the systematic torture of his people make the case for removing him morally strong. But the basis of action was as stated at the time.”
He added: “In short this is the same argument we have had many times with nothing new to say. But surely in a healthy democracy people can agree to disagree.
“I would also point out that despite the problems, Iraq today has an economy three times or more in size, with child mortality rate cut by a third of what it was. And with investment hugely increased in places like Basra.”
When Jenna Bush Hager interviewed her grandfather, former US President George H.W. Bush about growing old – they both broke down in tears.
Visibly choked up at points throughout the interview, which marked the former President’s 88th birthday, Jenna Bush Hager couldn’t help blubbing when her grandfather read out an emotional poem he’d written for his family.
In the heartbreaking poem George Bush began crying as he told his family: If you need me I’m here.
Before the interview is shown Jenna Bush Hager confessed on NBC’s Today show: “I tried as hard as I possibly could not to cry, but we are the family criers.”
In the revealing interview George Bush told how he still has one more wish he wants to fulfill – to see his great granddaughter grow up.
George Bush said that being around 10-month-old Georgia Bush “just takes me back” and that he longed for more time with her.
He also told how he is not scared of death and looks forward to being reunited in heaven with daughter Robin, who died of leukemia aged four in 1953.
In the seven-minute interview, George Bush was by turns funny, reflective and honest about his life.
He said that being married to wife Barbara, 87, for the last 63 years has been a “challenge and a reward” and that she is a “wonder”.
George Bush said that the couple “rejoice” in their six children, 17 grandchildren and great grandchild Georgia Bush, who arrived last year.
The former President said: “She’s a beautiful girl and she just takes me back. I just wish I were going to be around to see her grow old. I won’t be…
“…I think about death. I wonder what it’s like. There’s people in heaven I want to see, definitely.”
As for who he wants to see first, George Bush said: “It depends if Barbara pre-deceases me.
“Probably go with her, but I think my mum and my father, and maybe Robin our little girl that died.”
When Jenna Bush Hager interviewed her grandfather, former US President George H.W. Bush about growing old - they both broke down in tears
In the poem, which brought George Bush and Jenna Bush Hager to tears, he writes of how in his life the summer is fading out and the “wind is a little colder” – but that he still has a zest for life.
He writes how he’d love to wind back the clock and overcome his failing health and do all the things he used to.
The final, deeply poignant passage reads: “There’s so much excitement ahead, so many grandkids to watch grow, If you need me I’m here, Devotedly, Dad.”
Asked about how he feels about turning 88, George Bush said: “It’s pretty darn old. I never thought I’d get this old.
“Ageing is alright, better than the alternative, which is not being here.”
With characteristic good humor he added that nowadays he sometimes pretends that he can’t hear what people are saying and just tells them “what?” – just to “keep them on the ball”.
As a Navy pilot George Bush was shot down over the Pacific on September 2nd 1944 but survived and grabbed his “second shot at life” with both hands.
Reflecting on his career he said: “I’m sure I could have done a lot of things better.
“It’s been a fulfilling time with a lot of experiences, including being president of the United States. [That’s] not too shabby.
“I want somebody else to define the legacy. I’ve kind of banned use of the L word. History will point out some of the things I did wrong and some of the things I did right.”
George Bush said one of the things which still stings was the suggestion made by some that he did not try his hardest during his 1993 election defeat to Bill Clinton.
He said it was a “terrible feeling, awful feeling”, adding: “I really wanted to win and worked hard and later people said I didn’t care, it was just crazy.
“I worked my heart out and it was terrible to adjust but then you figure life goes on, just do what the next challenge is.”
Recently George Bush returned to the White House to see the portrait of his son George W. Bush hung close to his own, a ceremony he described as filling him with “awe and wonder”.
Going back into the White House caused “a lot of memories to come flooding back” – but for many people it was George Bush’s brightly socks that were the talking point.
Speaking to NBC George Bush admitted he likes a “colorful sock”, going so far as to describe himself as a “sock man”.
Asked by Jenna Bush Hager if he sees the comparison to Justin Bieber, who also wears bright socks, George Bush said: “Bieb? Is he a sock man. I don’t know much about the Bieber. Never seen him, I don’t know what he does.”
Jenna Bush Hager then sang Justin Bieber’s hit Baby, to which George Bush replied: “Is that his song? I don’t know it. I don’t think I’d like it.”
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