CIA Feels Torture Pinch

After everything that’s happened, CIA officials are still worrying that public scrutiny over torture will limit their ability to conduct interrogations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. With increased oversight, there’s inside concern that some CIA techniques–like enhanced interrogation–will no longer be viable. Especially now, on the heels of its dispute with Nancy Pelosi (and as two CIA officials prepare to take the stand before grand jury this week) the CIA feels it’s being made to take the blame for the Bush administration’s bad torture record. And looking forward, the agency is even more unsure of how it can proceed. The CIA has said it will enforce all future interrogations in accordance with the 2006 Army Field Manual, but some officials believe that, despite recent controversy about unauthorized torture methods, there may be some necessary techniques that are written out of the broadly-worded manual. Leon Panetta says he would go to the President for authorization if he believed any of these techniques necessary, and Obama is expected to set up a task force in the coming months to evaluate the contents of the manual and judge whether “additional guidance is necessary” for the CIA.