E. Bruce Preece’s May 13 letter, “Efforts of Bush years led to capture,” and Sen. John McCain’s, R-Ariz., account in the page A3 story, “McCain: Torture didn’t lead to finding bin Laden,” present two contrasts about the results of “enhanced interrogations,” also known as torture.
Preece is lavish in his praise for the work of the Bush administration in its use of “enhanced interrogations,” as in his view, this led to the capture of Osama bin Laden. He joins former members of the Bush administration who endorse the use of those techniques in gaining information needed to capture or kill bin Laden.
McCain says that “enhanced interrogations” do not work, as he was tortured by the North Vietnamese to seek information about U.S. policies, plans and personnel. He says plainly that it only led to false information. When he was “interrogated,” he gave out the names of the Pittsburgh Steeler football team to get the interrogators to stop the torture.
McCain was also insistent that the Bush policies did not produce information that led to bin Laden’s death. He also said that the CIA told him that the information needed to kill or capture bin Laden did not come from the “enhanced” methods.
