In the wake of a recent Senate report detailing the CIA’s post-9/11 techniques of interrogating terrorism suspects, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she’s “proud” to have been a part of an Obama administration that banned some of the practices.
“It is possible to keep us safe from terrorism and reduce crime and violence without relying on torture abroad or unnecessary force or excessive incarceration at home,” Mrs. Clinton said at an event where she accepted the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in New York.
The presumed 2016 Democratic presidential frontrunner said the country “should not practice or condone torture anywhere in the world,” The New York Times said. “That should be absolutely clear as a matter of both policy and law.”
The CIA has pushed back on the findings of the report that said the agency misled Congress and the White House about its interrogation techniques and that the methods did not elicit valuable information from suspected terrorists.
Advocates of the report’s release say it’s important to have a full accounting of what went on to make sure the practices don’t happen again, while opponents say it will provide fodder for terrorists around the globe and increase the risk of an attack on the U.S.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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