The Senate Intelligence Committee voted Thursday to release parts of a hotly contested, secret report that harshly criticizes CIA terror interrogations after 9/11, and the White House said it would instruct intelligence officials to cooperate fully, according to Reuters.
The result sets the stage for what could be the fullest public accounting of the Bush administration's record when it comes to waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques," Reuters reported.
The panel voted 11-3 to order the declassification of almost 500 pages of the 6,300-page review, which concludes the harsh methods employed at CIA-run prisons overseas were excessively cruel and ineffective in producing valuable intelligence, according to Reuters.
Even some Republicans who agree with the spy agency that the findings are inaccurate voted in favor of declassification, saying it was important for the country to move on, Reuters reported.
"The purpose of this review was to uncover the facts behind the secret program and the results, I think, were shocking," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the committee chairwoman, said, according to Reuters. "The report exposes brutality that stands in sharp contrast to our values as a nation. It chronicles a stain on our history that must never be allowed to happen again. This is not what Americans do."
The intelligence committee and the CIA are embroiled in a bitter dispute related to the three-year study, Reuters reported.
Senators accuse the agency of spying on their investigation and deleting files, according to Reuters. The CIA says Senate staffers illegally accessed information.
As a result of Thursday's vote, the CIA will start scanning the report's contents for any passages that could compromise national security, Reuters reported.
That has led to fears in the committee that a recalcitrant CIA might sanitize key elements of their investigation, and demands for President Barack Obama to ensure large parts of the report aren't blacked out, according to Reuters. Obama, said Senator Mark Udall, a democrat from Colorado, should "hold onto the redaction pen himself."
