This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Reaction, and there is a lot of it, to the Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA torture program.

Republicans should delve into the real Obama scandal — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

" ... If the Republicans who are about to control Congress want to do right by humanity, the Constitution and history, they will demand that the Obama administration not just admit, as the president did recently, 'We tortured some folks,' but also spare no effort in bringing to justice those who have clearly committed crimes against humanity. ..."

Trib Talk: Are U.S. interrogation techniques torture? — Jennifer Napier-Pearce | The Salt Lake Tribune [Video]

"In a report to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency has revealed that it used simulated drowning and other harsh interrogation techniques, but the methods did not improve intelligence gathering. The report also revealed that many of the legal justifications for the interrogation (authored by former BYU law student Jay Bybee) were based on bad information.

"On Wednesday at 12:15 p.m., attorney and former Army brigadier general David Irvine, University of Utah law professor Wayne McCormack and Tribune reporter Nate Carlisle join[ed] Jennifer Napier-Pearce to discuss the CIA disclosures and the implications for U.S. standing in the world."

CIA misled BYU grad who wrote memo used to justify torture program — Nate Carlisle | The Salt Lake Tribune

Long past time to fire the torture judge — Steve Sebelius | Las Vegas Review-Journal

" ... Meet Jay S. Bybee, currently a judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Back in 2001, Bybee was an appointee of the George W. Bush administration to an obscure but critical job heading up the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

"It was in that post in 2002 that Bybee signed off on memos that authorized agents of the U.S. government to engage in torture, in part by re-defining the term. ...

" ... Bybee remains a senior fellow in constitutional law at UNLV's Boyd Law School. He's held the position for years.

"He should lose it. ..."

U.S. moral leadership is far from restored — Leonid Bershidsky | Bloomberg View

"Now that the U.S. Senate report on the Central Intelligence Agency's torture practices is out, the question remains whether its revelations do anything to fill the global vacuum of moral authority, which the U.S. created by reacting so violently to the 9/11 attacks. Will the U.S. once again be the world's moral leader? Global reaction so far suggests there's a lot of work to be done before it can assume that role. ..."

Report distorts CIA success foiling terrorist plots — John McLaughlin (former CIA director) | Special to The Washington Post

" ... The point is we did succeed in getting vital information — during a national emergency when time was limited by the great urgency of a clock ticking on the next plot. ..."

I tortured at Abu Ghraib, and I can't be forgiven. — Eric Fair | For The Dallas Morning News

"Torture is abhorrent to the American sensibility — especially when the perpetrator is America. ..."

The torture report stains a 'shining city on a hill' — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial

" ... Those who believe in 'American exceptionalism' should be most appalled by the findings in this report. Our commitment to the rule of law and to standing on high moral ground has suffered a grievous blow. ..."

CIA betrayed American values — San Jose Mercury News Editorial

" ... This is the blackest mark on the United States' moral standing since it interned Japanese-Americans during World War II. ..."

Laws against torture must be tightened — Denver Post Editorial

" ... Torture is outlawed not only by U.S. law and military doctrine, but by international treaties. A number of CIA personnel themselves had qualms about the techniques, the report reveals, with one calling the program a train wreck 'waiting to happen and I intend to get the hell off the train before it happens.'

"Apparently the law against cruel and degrading treatment of prisoners needs to be still clearer, however, so that even the most obtuse government attorney understands. ..."

The Senate Report on the C.I.A.'s Torture and Lies — New York Times Editorial

"The world has long known that the United States government illegally detained and tortured prisoners after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and lied about it to Congress and the world. But the summary of a report released Tuesday of the Senate investigation of these operations, even after being sanitized by the Central Intelligence Agency itself, is a portrait of depravity that is hard to comprehend and even harder to stomach. ..."

Americans Have Grown More Supportive Of Torture — Brittany Lyte | FiveThirtyEight

" ... 'Overall, I doubt it will change many minds, one way or another, as this issue is completely and intractably polarized,' said Charlie Dunlap Jr., a warfare strategy expert and Duke University School of Law professor. ..."