MSNBC host Chris Matthews is torn over the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA interrogation techniques, but he is certain Salon editor Joan Walsh’s interpretation of it is “crazy.”
During a segment Tuesday on Mr. Matthew’s “Hardball,” Ms. Walsh debated with former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele about whether ceasing harsh interrogation techniques on suspected terrorism suspects would spur al Qaeda to follow suit.
Mr. Matthews said that while he respected the values of Ms. Walsh, “anybody thinks us not torturing people is going to stop al Qaeda from torturing people, you’re living in a crazy world. They don’t look at the Geneva Convention —” The Daily Caller reported Tuesday.
“We tortured, and still have al Qaeda,” Ms. Walsh fired back. “We tortured, and we have ISIS. We tortured and we didn’t stop the resurgence of this form of fanatic and violent Islam. So torture didn’t work either.”
The CIA and many of its former leaders contest the 480-page executive summary of the report on its practices in a post 9/11 world that was released by Democrats on Tuesday. Former Directors Directors George J. Tenet and Porter J. Goss, along with former CIA Deputy Directors Albert M. Calland, Stephen R. Kappes, and John E. McLaughlin insist that the information gleaned during CIA interrogations saved lives and that the Democrats on the committee crafted the report in a partisan manner.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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