Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/357128
ByKenDilanian The Associated Press WASHINGTON TheUnited States tortured al Qaida detainees captured af- ter the 9/11 attacks, Presi- dent Obama said Friday, in some of his most expansive comments to date about a controversial set of CIA practices that he banned after taking office. "We tortured some folks," Obama said at a televised news conference at the White House. "We did some things that were contrary to our values." Addressing the im- pending release of a Sen- ate report that criticizes CIA treatment of detain- ees, Obama said he be- lieved the mistreatment stemmed from the pres- sure national security of- ficials felt to forestall an- other attack. He said Americans should not be too "sanctimonious," about passing judgment through the lens of a seemingly safer present day. That view, which he ex- pressed as a candidate for national office in 2008 and early in his presidency, ex- plains why Obama did not push to pursue criminal charges against the Bush era officials who carried out the CIA program. To this day, many of those of- ficials insist that what they did was not torture, which is a felony under U.S. law. The president's com- ments are a blow to those formerofficials,aswellasan estimated 200 people cur- rently working at the CIA who played some role in the interrogation program. In 2009, Obama said he preferred to "look for- ward, not backwards," on the issue, and he decided that no CIA officer who was following legal guid- ance_however flawed that guidance turned out to be —should be prosecuted. A long-running criminal in- vestigation into whether the CIA exceeded the guid- ance_which is an allega- tion of the Senate report_ was closed in 2012 without charges. Still, Obama's remarks on Friday were more em- phatic than his previous comments on the sub- ject, including a May 2009 speech in which he trumpeted his ban of "so- called enhanced interroga- tion techniques," and "bru- tal methods," but did not flatly say the U.S. had en- gaged in torture. At an April 2009 new conference, he said, "I be- lieve that waterboarding was torture and, whatever legal rationales were used, it was a mistake." In addition to water boarding, the CIA used stress positions, sleep de- privation, nudity, humili- ation, cold and other tac- tics that, taken together, were extremely brutal, the Senate report is expected to say. Obama on Friday did not mention a specific method, but he said the CIA used techniques that "any fair minded person would believe were tor- ture." "We crossed a line," he said. "That needs to be un- derstood and accepted... We did some things that were wrong, and thats what that report reflects." Obama on Friday did not address two other central arguments of the soon-to-be-released Sen- ate report — that the bru- tal interrogations didn't produce life-saving intel- ligence, and that the CIA lied to other elements of the U.S. government about exactly what it was doing. The president also ex- pressed confidence in his CIA director, John Bren- nan, in the wake of an inter- nal CIA report document- ing that the spy agency im- properly accessed Senate computers. There havebeen calls for his resignation on Capitol Hill. Obama said the inter- nal report made clear that "some very poor judgment was shown," but he seemed to say it wasn't Brennan's fault, and he praised his director for ordering the inquiry in the first place. CIA Obamasaysa er9-11, US 'tortured some folks' By Karin Laub The Associated Press GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP Backed by tank fire and airstrikes, Israeli forces pushed deep into south- ern Gaza on Friday, search- ing for an Israeli army offi- cer believed to be captured by Hamas fighters during deadly clashes that shat- tered an internationally brokered cease-fire. The apparent capture of the soldier and the collapse of the truce set the stage for a possible expansion of Isra- el's 25-day-old military op- eration against Hamas. President Barack Obama and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called for the immediate re- lease of the soldier but also appealed for restraint. In Is- rael, senior Cabinet minis- ters convened late Friday in a rare emergency meeting after the start of the Jew- ish Sabbath. The search for the miss- ing soldier centered on the outskirts of the town of Ra- fah, on the Egypt-Gaza bor- der. At least 140 Palestinians were killed Friday in Gaza, with at least 70 killed in the Rafah area along with two Israeli soldiers. Earlier Friday, Israel and Hamas accused each other of breaking the truce, which had been announced by the U.S. and the U.N., and took effect at 8 a.m. The breakdown meant there would be no reprieve for the 1.7 million residents of Gaza, where large parts have been devastated by airstrikes and shelling, and at least 1,600 people — mostly civilians — have been killed and more than 8,000 wounded. Israel has lost 63 soldiers and three ci- vilians. The fighting in the Ra- fah area continued into the night, with residents re- porting airstrikes along the Egypt-Gaza frontier as well as heavy tank and artillery shelling. The Israeli mili- tary said it was searching for the missing soldier and had sent automated calls or text messages to Rafah resi- dents to stay indoors. "We are under fire, ev- ery minute or so tanks fire shells at us," said Rafah resident Ayman Al-Arja. "I have been thinking of leav- ing since 2 p.m., but tank fire can reach anywhere, and I was scared they will hit my pickup truck. Now we are sitting in the stair- well, 11 members of my fam- ily, my brother, his nine children and wife. We just have water to drink and the radio to hear the news." The 45-year-old Al-Arja added: "We are just stay- ing put waiting for God's mercy." The heavy shelling in Ra- fah was part of operational and intelligence activity to locate the missing officer, 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin, the Israeli military said. An hour after the cease-fire began, gunmen emerged from one or more Gaza tunnels and opened fire at Israeli soldiers, with at least one of the mili- tants detonating an explo- sives vest, said Israeli army spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner. Goldin, a 23-year-old from the central Israeli town of Kfar Saba, was ap- parently captured in the en- suing mayhem, while an- other two Israeli soldiers were killed. "We suspect that he has been kidnapped," Lerner said. Obama called for Gold- in's unconditional and im- mediate release and said it would be difficult to put the cease-fire back together. However, he said the U.S. will continue working to- ward a cease-fire. He said Israel committed to the truce, but at the same time called the situation in Gaza "heartbreaking" and repeated calls for Israel to do more to prevent Palestin- ian civilian casualties. "Innocent civilians caught in the crossfire have to weigh on our conscience, and we have to do more," Obama said. He added that Israel must be able to de- fend itself, but that irre- sponsible actions by Hamas have put civilians in dan- ger. Israel has gone to great lengths in the past to get back its captured soldiers. In 2011, it traded hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for an Israeli soldier who had been captured by Hamas- allied militants in 2006. The capture of two sol- diers in a cross-border op- eration by Lebanon's Hez- bollah guerrillas in 2006 sparked a 34-day war be- tween the Iranian-backed Shiite group and Israel. GAZA Is ra el p us he s de ep er a er soldier seized TSAFRIRABAYOV—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Israeli reserved soldiers direct a Merkava tank to cross a road in the southern Israel as it advances towards the Israel Gaza border on Friday. N EWS D AILY REDBLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U NTY S I N C E 1 8 8 5 PHONE: (530)527-2151 FAX: (530) 527-5774 545 Diamond Avenue • P.O. Box 220 • Red Bluff, CA 96080 Support our classrooms, keep kids reading. 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