McCain bucks GOP on interrogations report

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is bucking much of the Republican Party to defend a controversial Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA’s use of enhanced interrogation techniques.

“It’s a thorough study of practices that I believe not only failed their purpose to secure actionable intelligence … but actually damaged our security interests as well as our reputation as a force for good in the world,” McCain said in a speech on the Senate floor shortly after the report was released.

{mosads}“I believe the American people have a right — indeed, a responsibility — to know what was done in their name, how these practices did or did not serve their interests and how they comported our most important values,” he said.

McCain, who was kept as a prisoner of war for five years during Vietnam, has been one of the most vocal critics of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods used under President George W. Bush.  

“I have long believed some of these activities amount to torture,” he said on Tuesday.

That stance puts him at odds with many of his fellow Republicans, who have largely supported the CIA programs and have criticized the extensive report — compiled by Democrats on the Intelligence Committee — that claims the tactics were ineffective and poorly managed.

Republicans on the panel produced their own report on the practices, which is far less disparaging than the majority report.

The Bush-era tactics, McCain said on Tuesday, “stained our national honor.”

“They did much harm and did little good.”