Senate Panel Questions C.I.A. Detentions

The Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday questioned the continuing value of the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret interrogation program for terrorism suspects, suggesting that international condemnation and the obstacles it has created to criminal prosecution may outweigh its worth in gathering information.

The committee rejected by one vote a Democratic proposal that would essentially have cut money for the program by banning harsh interrogation techniques except in dire emergencies, a committee report revealed.

“More than five years after the decision to start the program,” the report said, “the committee believes that consideration should be given to whether it is the best means to obtain a full and reliable intelligence debriefing of a detainee.”

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The amendment failed when Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, joined all the Republicans in voting no.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/01/washington/01intel.html?hp

"...suggesting that international condemnation and the obstacles it has created to criminal prosecution ]may outweigh its worth in gathering information."


"...a Democratic proposal that would essentially have cut money for the program by banning harsh interrogation techniques except in dire emergencies, a committee report revealed."