C.I.A to Close Secret Prisons for Terror Suspects

The most controversial counter terrorism program of the Bush Administration is coming to an end. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/world/10detain.html? The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) announced on Thursday April 9th,2009 that it would decommission the secret overseas prisons where Al Quaeda prisoners have been kept and subjected to brutal interrogation methods since 2002 when the program was created. Waterboarding, one of the interrogation methods, which involved near-drowning has been declared torture by the agency's director, Leon E. Panetta and other Obama Administration officials, but according to Panetta the agency officers who worked in the program should not be investigated because under President George W. Bush the Justice Department declared their actions legal. During his first week in office President Obama banned coercive interrogations and ordered the CIA programs closed. Mr. Panetta said the secret detention facilities are no longer in operation, but at taxpayer's expense are still being kept under security and maintenance, and terminating security contracts will save at least $4million. Aviation records and news reports have placed the locations for the secret prisons in Afghanistan, Thailand, Poland, Romania, and Jordan among other countries. Even though the number of held prisoners is not very high, less than 100 since 2002 when the program was created, the number subjected to the "enhanced" interrogation techniques was almost half of the total number. The remaining 14 prisoners were transferred to Guantanamo Cuba in 2006. The techniques described by President Obama and Vice President Biden as torture also betrayed American Values, alienated allies, and became a recruiting tool for Al Quaeda. I realize that terrorism is an evil thing and terrorists need to be dealt with, but I am in total agreement that the practices supposedly used at the secret prisons do betray American Values and I honestly feel that two wrongs definitely do not make a right. Mr. Panetta said that the agency would cooperate, but made it clear that "fairness and wisdom" should dictate against a criminal investigation or other sanctions.