Obama: ‘We Crossed the Line, We Tortured Some Folks’

During a recent press conference in which U.S. President Barack Obama asked the Islamic resistance movement Hamas to release an Israeli soldier captured in Gaza, the president publicly admitted that American intelligence agents “tortured some folks” following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.

“Even before I came into office, I was very clear that in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, we did some things that were wrong,” Obama told reporters. “We did a whole lot of things that were right, but we tortured some folks. We did things that were contrary to our values,” he said.

Despite the blunt nature of his comments, Obama noted that we should understand what was going on at the time. “People did not know whether more attacks were imminent,” Obama said, adding that there was “enormous pressure” on law enforcement and national security teams to try to deal with the situation.

Which is why, Obama pointed out, “it’s important for us not to feel too sanctimonious in retrospect about the tough job that those folks had. A lot of those folks were working hard under enormous pressure and are real patriots,” he said. “That needs to be understood and accepted.”

The president made these statements in advance of a forthcoming U.S. Senate report, in an effort to reduce the criticism it is expected to arouse. The Senate report alleges that the Central Intelligence Agency abused individuals suspected of belonging to extremist groups such as al-Qaida.

“We did some things that were wrong. And that’s what that report reflects,” Obama said. “My hope is that this report reminds us once again that … the character of our country has to be measured in part not by what we do when things are easy, but what we do when things are hard.”

This is not the first time Obama has acknowledged that American intelligence services crossed the line and tortured prisoners. However, it is the first time he has stated it so clearly. Either way, the CIA is used to dealing with criticism and accusations of abusive interrogation techniques between 2002 and 2006.

The controversy focusing on the Senate Intelligence Committee — which produced the controversial report — resurfaced this week, after current CIA Director John Brennan apologized to the committee, conceding that officers of the agency had spied on computers belonging to congressional employees during the investigation.

Several members of the opposition requested the resignation of Brennan. However, Obama said that he trusted him “fully.”