Former US vice president Dick Cheney today criticised President Barack Obama's ability to handle national security after the Justice Department appointed a special prosecutor to investigate CIA interrogation abuses.
Mr Cheney, who has emerged as a vocal defender of Bush administration policies since leaving the White House, said the intelligence obtained from harsh interrogation techniques had saved lives.
"The people involved deserve our gratitude. They do not deserve to be the targets of political investigations or prosecutions," he said in a statement.
Mr Cheney took issue with the Obama administration's decisions this week to have a special prosecutor investigate CIA prisoner abuse cases and to have a new group handling terrorism interrogations report to the White House.
"President Obama's decision to allow the Justice Department to investigate and possibly prosecute CIA personnel, and his decision to remove authority for interrogation from the CIA to the White House, serves as a reminder, if any were needed, of why so many Americans have doubts about this Administration's ability to be responsible for our nation's security," Mr Cheney said.
Earlier this year, Cheney had asked the CIA to declassify two memos that he said showed the effectiveness of using harsh interrogation methods on terrorism suspects.
The CIA in May rejected that request, but yesterday released the documents, with classified portions blacked out.
"The activities of the CIA in carrying out the policies of the Bush Administration were directly responsible for defeating all efforts by al Qaeda to launch further mass casualty attacks against the United States," Mr Cheney said.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said today,however, there should be no immunity from prosecution for torture of terror suspects.
The next step would involve criminal liability for anyone who broke the law, Navi Pillay said in a statement calling for greater transparency about "secret places of detention and what went on in them".
"I hope there is a swift examination of the various allegations of abuse made by former and current detainees in Guantanamo and other US-run prisoners and if they are verified, that the next steps will involve accountability for anyone who has violated the law," she said.
US Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday named a special prosecutor to examine CIA prisoner abuse cases.
Mr Holder's decision, which promises political headaches for Mr Obama, came after the Justice Department's ethics watchdog recommended considering prosecution of CIA employees or contractors for harsh interrogations in Iraq and Afghanistan that went beyond approved limits.
"I fully realize that my decision to commence this preliminary review will be controversial," Mr Holder said in a statement yesterday. "In this case, given all of the information currently available, it is clear to me that this review is the only responsible course of action for me to take."
Career prosecutor John Durham will head the investigation, adding to the one he is already doing of the CIA's destruction of videotapes showing harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects.
As Mr Holder made his decision, new details emerged about "enhanced" interrogation techniques used after the September 11 attacks on the United States under then-president George W. Bush but subsequently scratched by Mr Obama when he took office.
Bush officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, have denied that torture was used and defended their interrogation practices as legal.
But they went beyond sleep deprivation, withholding food, and so-called waterboarding, a move to simulate drowning, of a handful of suspects. They included "unauthorised, improvised, inhumane and undocumented" techniques, a CIA report said.
In one instance, interrogators told alleged September 11th mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that his children would be killed if any further attacks on the United States occurred, according to new details released from the CIA's inspector general's 2004 report.
The Obama administration revealed yesterday it was setting up a new group to interrogate terrorism suspects in accordance with established rules and it will be overseen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, replacing the CIA in the lead role.
The practice of rendition will continue as allowed under US law, an administration official said.
Reuters