Decency at the FBI

[OhioChick]

Sunday, May 25, 2008

FIRST, the good news: According to a newly released Justice Department report, the majority of FBI agents refused to participate in the harsh interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq going back to 2002.

The bad news could've been much worse: While the majority of FBI agents obeyed the letter of the law, the agency's leadership failed to act aggressively to end the abuse of detainees by its sister agencies or give advice to those agents who complained about how to deal with it.

The outrages at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo were rooted in arguments between the Justice Department, the National Security Council, and the Defense Department about the legality of harsh interrogation. Because the White House ultimately sided with the Defense Department, military and CIA interrogators continued to use abusive tactics that violated accepted norms of behavior.

Ironically, those tactics yielded little useful intelligence according to the Justice Department inspector general's report. About 500,000 documents were examined and 1,000 FBI agents interviewed about their experiences and observations about the interrogation tactics of other agencies. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft refused to cooperate with the investigation, further tarnishing his already troubled legacy.

The inspector general's conclusion in the report is fair, though it raises uncomfortable questions about the FBI's reluctance to press the issue: "In sum, while our report concluded that the FBI could have provided clearer guidance earlier, and while the FBI and could have pressed harder for resolution of FBI concerns about detainee treatment, we believe the FBI should be credited for its conduct and professionalism in detainee interrogations in the military zones in Afghanistan, in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay."

Indeed, the decent impulses of individual FBI agents should be commended. But it is a shame that their superiors did not act on their concerns.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080525/OPINION02/805250309