McCain wants Senate report on torture made public

THE HILL

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) believes that the public deserves to see the findings of a 6,000-page report on “enhanced interrogation techniques” used under the George W. Bush administration.
McCain told reporters Tuesday that he wants the report made public ahead of a Senate panel vote to approve the long-awaited report.
“Absolutely it should be made public,” McCain said.
McCain, a vocal opponent of the Bush administration’s use of enhanced interrogation on terror detainees, said that he had yet to speak about the release of the report with Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), whose committee is voting on the report Thursday.
While the Senate panel plans to approve the report this week to conclude a three-year inquiry, that does not mean it will be made public. The approval will trigger a review by the White House, intelligence community and lawmakers over what should be unclassified.
Human-rights groups are renewing their calls for the release of the report as the vote approaches this week, which McCain said he would support.
McCain also reiterated his belief that the use of enhanced interrogation techniques did not lead to information that helped U.S. forces kill Osama bin Laden.
“We did not get any meaningful information unclassified, we did not get any meaningful information by torturing people,” McCain said.
Feinstein has made similar statements, but some Republicans argue that the intelligence gained from enhanced interrogation helped track bin Laden down.
The debate over torture has also surfaced in reviews of the new film about the bin Laden raid, titled “Zero Dark Thirty,” which includes scenes showing detainees subjected to techniques like waterboarding.