The US embassies in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Thailand are warning of the potential for anti-American protests and violence after Tuesday’s release of a Senate report outlining harsh interrogation techniques used by the CIA on terror suspects.
In identical notices to Americans in the three countries, the embassies said “the release of declassified versions of the executive summary, findings, and conclusions of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s study on the CIA’s rendition, detention and interrogation program could prompt anti-US protests and violence against US interests, including private US citizens”.
The US Consulate in Chiang Mai, Thailand also issued the warning.
Afghanistan and Thailand were host to two of the secret facilities where prisoners were interrogated.
The notices urged Americans to be alert to their surrounding and take appropriate safety precautions, including avoiding demonstrations or confrontational situations.
The CIA’s interrogation of al Qaeda suspects was far more brutal than acknowledged and did not produce useful intelligence, a damning and long-delayed US Senate report said on Tuesday.
The summary is the most extensive detailing of the CIA’s brutal interrogation of al Qaeda suspects yet, although Obama admitted in August that: “We tortured some folks.”
Current CIA director John Brennan defended his agency’s adoption of tough tactics under the president George W. Bush in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 al Qaeda attacks on US cities.
He insisted that, while mistakes were made, brutal techniques like waterboarding “did produce intelligence that helped thwart attack plans, capture terrorists and save lives”.
