CNN

War? Pardon me...I can't help it but remind people rather famous
"The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!"
This war exist only in the mind of Hayden...

One of the things that the rest of the world has always loved about this country is the way we are so open. We tell it like it is and deal with it! If the Bush team needs to pay for their actions (and they do) then we,and the rest of the world need to know all that they did. Making the memos public was the only right thing to do. When we give in to fear,and live our lives based ,only on what keeps us safe, then the terrorists have already won. The things that make us ,as Americans,the great people that we should be are doing the right thing not the easy or the popular thing.

Not fooled by guys like this who's only claim to fame is that he because CIA chief due to the pyramid system.

I wonder when have another attack I bet all this stuiped people on here will change there minds I all these democracts and i'am one didn't have family members kill when 9/11 hit. But have you seen when one of own get captured they don/t interrogate they kill on the spot and also I DON'T THINK OF YOU EVER SERVED IN THE MILLITARY BEFORE BECAUSE IF YOU DID YOU WOULD'NT BE MAKEING THESE COMMENTS. Oh but if it was one of family member had died you would be crying get them the best way you can I bet obamma would agreed everything would be okay just a bunch of hypocrites who don't have a mind of there own aslong as obamma has problem with it you got a problem withit think for you'r self . How many on this site though it was okay to torture when 9/11 hit i bet all of though what ever it takes as long as we get them for what they did sound like a doublestander here. When are people going to wake up are you be like JIM Jones were obamma will all of you drinking the kool aid are is this some type of cult we are starting to see were you people are so gone I ever seen one man has so power and to pursade you think the way he think like if Obamma said it true then it must be true. P.S. I just you would think for yourselfe and stop letting someone think for you. P.S WELCOME ANY RESPONSE TO THIS I WON'T BE FOOLED I DON'T NEED ANOTHER GROWN MAN CONTROLING ME MY DAD DID WHEN I WAS A CHILD AS A CHILD I THOUGH LIKE A CHILD BUT NOW I'AM GROWN I THINK FOR MY SELF.

Posted by Scott Huse

"April 19th, 2009 3:59 pm ET

I bet most you hippies against these techniques have never put one foot on hostile foriegn soil… frankly until you have and have seen the wickedness that exists in these parts of the world do not chastise our own for doing what is nessessary to obtain valuable info…. plus, what is your idea to get intel you band of educated fools you think if we ask nicely they will tell us everything we need to know. you call us war criminals but you have never seen the otherside"

I'm against these techniques and I was apart of the 1/327 IN BN 101st Airborne Division during their first deployment at the start of the war. So I have seen the wickedness as have a lot of my friends. These friends consist of younger soldiers coming into the Army that are more and more liberal than their older counterparts. These are people who hold liberal views but care enough about the country to put their life on the line. Yet despite the fact you seem to have fought for the freedom of speech we all are entitled to, you hardly hesitate to demean someone else's differing opinion without any logical argument other than to label them as liberal hippies to scared to fight. I'm sorry buddy but any intelligent person can see your argument holds no weight and contains no real points as to why torture is effective. Even John McCain, who was actually tortured, says that torture doesn't work. So what level of experience do have that makes your lack of an intellectual opinion any more valid than John McCain's? Or even more than mine considering I have set foot on a foreign soil, seen the wickedness that exist over there, and have seen the otherside?

What Obama "compromised" is the criminal conduct of Bush-Cheney and Hayden. The only hope criminals like this have is that their conduct doesn't come to light. People like them need to learn from their mistakes the same way other criminals do...through indictments and trials by juries.

The damage done to America during the Bush-Cheney reign must be addressed. Opening the files and telling the truth is agood start.

Yep the old democrat ploy to bash the last guy and give away secrets. Kind of like that lost lap top Madum Aldull lost in the Clintoon Admin.

I am extremely proud of President Obama for releasing these torture memos, but disappointed that he seems to be balking at prosecution. People in the Bush administration who committed WAR CRIMES should be prosecuted. And considering Bush/Cheney presided over 10,000 Americans deaths by Islamic terrorists - the most in US history - it seems pretty odd to suggest it's Obama who threatens national security.

Shouldn't this guy be on a golf course somewhere drawing down his IRA? The Republican sneer-and-smear machine never rests.

IS IT 2012 YET ??: "Obama is naive."

At least he's not stupid and ignorant (like you) and/or a mass-murdering thief and terrorist (like Bush).

Obama-Biden 2012!

I agree with Scott. We're in danger from following the ideas of well-educated fools. We're better off following the failed policies of uneducated but enlightened individuals (like the previously successful administration) who think like him. Torture provides highly reliable intelligence and is morally OK as long as it is not U.S. soldiers or citizens who are subjected to it. America can be a beacon and example for the rest of the world as long as they don't examine our actual practices. I nominate Scott for President.

US: Waterboarding, sleep-deprevation of suspected TERRORISTS.

Them: Breaking fingers/pulling out finger nails, beating, shooting, and beheading of INNOCENT people (journalists, doctors, aid workers, businessmen, engineers).

I think you all should take a brief moment to read about Daniel Pearl, Jack Hensley, Paul Marshall Johnson, Jr., Nick Berg, Willaim Bradley, Eugene Armstrong, Tom Fox, Ronald Alan Schulz, John Roy Young, Joshua Mark Munns, Paul Christopher Johnson-Reuben, Jonathon Michael Cote, Ronald Withrow and Cydney Mizell (to name a few). These were all AMERICAN citizens who were held hostage and later killed by extremely brutal means.

Who would you rather be tortured by?

check out this story an website,
it will show you a lot also

here is a hint..
"legalizing torture and assassination"

http://zfacts.com/p/100.html

Some of us write, because it is a passion. Others? It belongs to no one-person. But it does belong every person...

apparently von bismark you have never been to war

Dace From Tucson-

We executed the Japanese and Germans for mass executions and starvations as well as genocide. Water boarding prisoners is on nowhere near the same level. Grow up, study the subject more, and stop name calling when you don't have a solid point to make.

Another point, why is the enemy allowed to behead people at will and we cannot take the kid gloves off with a little bit of water. Yes, Torture is wrong, but waterboarding is not the same as electroshock to the genitals or mutilations. Personally, I hope Bin Laden gets a little roughed up when he is captured by the republican president in 2012.

He is only trying to cover his own butt!

Tell Hayden to "sit on It."

America's enemies do not need an incentive to be recruited, but one was provided through Bush's conduct of the war on terror. America tends to speak from both sides of its mouth and the world will have none of it. This is unfortunate for its citizens living, working and fighting abroad.

Releasing the memos was purely political theatre. Those involved in authorizing the release: (1) owed the Plaintiffs in the FOIA case for their previous electoral support; and (2) knew that their own people would be safe from prosecution. It was just cheap politics to better entrench their standings in the polls by underscoring the perceived injustices of their competition. Good politics. Lousy foreign policy. It also set a perverse precedent – all former presidential administrations had better be careful at what they put in writing, lest they face full disclosure by the succeeding administration. Sounds noble on paper, but extremely naive – and in this case, dangerous – in practice.

I bet most you hippies against these techniques have never put one foot on hostile foriegn soil... frankly until you have and have seen the wickedness that exists in these parts of the world do not chastise our own for doing what is nessessary to obtain valuable info.... plus, what is your idea to get intel you band of educated fools you think if we ask nicely they will tell us everything we need to know. you call us war criminals but you have never seen the otherside

Would this guy like to be tortured if he were captured in the battlefield?

You passive Demos need to stop putting your input of what is right and fair. War is not fair and those people out there will kill you quicker then fly crap. You think just becuase they are human beings that they should be treated with dignity. They don't give a crap about you or me, and all they want to do is eliminate the U.S. Just think if they killed your closest family, would you still keep your views. I bet NOT!
If you haven't been a war,then sit back and shut up. Your showing your ignorance about a subject you know nothing about. Or even better, why don't you leave America and live with them. They will surely love you.

I think it was stupid, stupid, stupid listing the interrogation methods for the enemy to review. Now lets see their list, i.e., beheading, gouging eyes out, starving, electrocution, castrating, jabbing knives into various parts of the body , killing and on and on. All we are doing is give many in the world fodder to make us look bad. However, many countries or groups of people who will critisize us actually use interrogation methods that would put us to shame.

Too bad this jerk cannot get the same treatment he authorized in secret memos. He is a disgrace to all of the men and women in the CIA and the military. The memos show it was torture and if it was so great, why didn't it get more information about Bin Laden? My only wish is that the government terminate this jerk's retirement because it is obvious the Bushies just don't get it. They broke the law and are a disgrace to the country, to the people in the CIA and military, and to themselves. Best wishes and go away.

Torture doesn't work, period. You can bet that if I were going insane from being tortured or water boarded, etc, etc that I'd be making up the first thing that came to mind to get me out of that situation.
Darn right these people should be exposed.
I'm so tired of reading and reading and reading of this whole Bush-era thought process. Time to move on folks. It's a new day. And a sunny one, at that.

he is the criminal that endorsed and followed though on the torture

Slam!?! Mr. Hayden, just be glad President Obama didn't call for prosecution for you and the other CIA, anti-American, throw-the Constitution-out, torturers! He is too focused on the future to worry with you guys! The world knew what you were doing....no secrets...now they know that we are taking GIANT steps away from that sad time in our history and are moving ahead with heads held high again...
Thank you, Mr. President!

@ Tom in Delaware! Go right ahead and put a catapillar on Obama's

shoulder. The man is so COOL and Calm and NOT INTIMIDATED by

HATERS like you, the catapillar problably would freeze to death by all

that COOLNESS!!!! WOW!! WHAT A GUY?

Nations have their closely guarded secretes, and they are never let out for political gains, no matter which administration is in charge.
Questionable methods of interrogations should be taken off the table; never a reason to make a big publicity out of it.

Of gee another slimey republican heard from. What is wrong with republicans I guess they are so devoid of character they love to see people tortured and exploited. That they think they are entitled to do whatever they want when ever they want. This guy needs to be checked into also. He looks like a snake.

Obama is naive.

One more orange jumpsuit for smiley here,he knew what he was doing but he didnt think he would get caught.

If this administration states that the techniques used by the former administration WILL NOT be allowed then revealing THOSE PAST methods is not threat to the security of America. Revealing this information is only a threat to the PAST administration and the future of the GOP who STILL thinks that torturing of people is acceptable. In my opionion it takes more courage to admit mistakes so that one can learn from them instead of irresponsibly continuing down the same path without re-evaluation of the outcome of what has been done.

God help our good troops caught in a foreign countries who will be tortured in the same manner that the US tortures its captives. How does that make anyone safer?

Hahaha The Guy Next Door. Thanks for the laugh. Unless you're serious. In which case let's strap you upside down and pour water in your face until you're sure you're about to die and see if you think its torture then. You know who else was fond of waterboarding? The Gestapo.

I have seen some comments like waterboarding is not torture. I must say I am astonished to hearing that (The guy next door).Not only you are such a coward that can not even put down his name , but I am wondering since it is not torture , how many times you have been waterboarded... so if the answer is none , than how about let somebody try it on you, and report back to this blog.

Ok so if an American who possibly ahtes any other country was tortured no one would say anything was wrong with that.

Republicans...

Here you go with your fear tactics again. You're losing. You know how we know. The article above basically explains the whole thing. The republicans are resorting to fear tactics. That's normal for someone who's losing.

Propoganda and Fear-driven-BS to scare people into believing the non-sence you put forth, and Rush Limbaugh is the only thing you could come up with to try to bounce back.

How Pathetic!

"..absent the intent to cause pain". In this instance I am ashamed of the administration. All of these people are war criminals. We have service members serving time for "crimes" at Abu Ghraib. And they were not allowed the "I was only following orders" defense. How many Germans were imprisoned and executed for being on the General Staff and just knowing about the concentrations camps. But the CIA people that actually did the torture are now exempt because they obviously didn't have the common sense to know were the line was. I guess it's now only torture when it's not direct members of the intelligence community; because there were many soldiers that stated the techniques they used were taught to them by person they believed to be CIA agents.

This guy is just trying to cover his butt. I bet they broke all kinds of laws and now they are screaming holy bejesus because they don't want the American people to know that they have done things in the name of national security that are worse than what we have accused our enemies of doing. I think everyone in the world should know just have bad George Bush and Dick Cheney have made this country. They are all a bunch of criminals.

The Obama Administration is making public what it has no intention of ever doing again regarding torture. Consider that that they have new ways of extracting information that we are not aware of. Remember that they deployed the Stealth F-117A back in 1981 but we never knew officially until 1988 that they even existed. When they admitted to the existence of the F-117A. When they acknowledged the F-117A in 1988 the new F-22 Raptor had been in production 2 years and delivered. They were ordered back in 1986, TWO YEARS BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT ACKNOWLEDGED THE F-117A, when the teams of Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics and Northrop/McDonnell Douglas were given the order for the F-22 Raptor.

Another go-along-to-get-along somehow in the news.

you finally got a good leader.. And it's one with values.... impressive !!
He is well educated, diplomatic, actually everything a leader has to be.
He keeps 'God issues' seperated from Political decisions; that's something we already learned a long time ago in Europe.

Obama probably knows that when you torture people you frequently have innocent people getting tortured, or people who are not engaged in terror but only know something.. it's all complicated I guess.
Certainly if you realise that when you torture someone you are infecting your victim and his entourage with a PR virus.. it spreads the word that USA is the Devil and then they have kids etc. which gives you a nice pot of Terrorist breeding.

Well done.

To all of the moral cowards who believe that waterboarding isn't torture: Why don't you volunteer and find out?

It is despicable that – in violation of both the United States Constitution and the Geneva Conventions – the Bush Administration authorized interrogation methods used by the Communist Chinese to extract information that is unlikely to be credible.

Why some Republicans wish to sell out our values to "defend our values" is a mystery indeed. I'm not interested in being "safer" if it means that our nation turns to despotic methods. Let us not forget that the ends do not justify the means.

I have an idea – next time the CIA needs to interrogate a suspect, maybe Hayden could use his head as a battering-ram.

This is in response to the Guy Next Door. I believe you and your family should volunteer to be waterboarded. Just so you can truly testify that it is not torture.

Those that condone torture are fools and cowards, willing to give up liberty for a false sense of security. May God forgive you and the other sheep.

It is not the release of the full contents of the torture legal opinion memos that has compromised national security, it is the actions of the CIA (e.g., the torturing, etc) that has compromised national security!

The fact that our country, while headed by Bush and the Republicans, condoned and used torture in their "war on terror", helped *create* more terrorism. How can our country hope to claim a moral high ground when it supports torture? And how can we set an example for the other nations of the world if we accept torture?

Some people will argue that torturing a few to prevent the harm of many is justified. However, there is no evidence - NONE - that torture has helped the U.S. in any way. Also, accepting the accidental torture of innocent people, or of people who do not have any useful information, just as a kind of "insurance" against possible threats is morally wrong, and devalues the lives of everyone.

I am both angry and sad about how people like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Tenet, Hayden, Alberto Gonzales, John Roberts, etc, recklessly endangered our country - its security, economy, influence, and domestic culture - in pursuit of personal gain. I think it would be fair to consider prison terms for all of those people. How arrogant and insulting it is to the American people for Hayden to even suggest at this point that releasing evidence of past criminal CIA activity is somehow *hurting* our country.

This guy smells a crook.

That's why he is a "former CIA" means he is X as in no longer needed at least by this Administration. Take a good look at the guy, can you say Dick Cheney? Same looks, same mentality!

On "Fox News"?

Since that is the public mouthpiece for the neo-cons as proven by all the partisan cheering for the "astro-turf" tea baggers there is nothing close to credible news coming from Murdock's empire.

Hayden should have to endure all the torture he's so in favor of. As a matter of fact all the people including the enormous Bill Bennett should experience the torture strategies that they are so in favor of.

Our sons and daughters in the military, heaven forbid if they were captured, would have to pay for what Bush/Cheney advocated. We would have no room to talk because we are no better for torturing. It is sickening to me how the repugs say they are patriotic, but constantly places our military in danger because of their hatred.

Mr. Obama was totally insane and irresponsible to do what he did. It showed his total lack of experience and disregard for the people in the field.

Haden worked for the shrub and has now joined the effort to rewrite history in an attempt to save his own butt and the shrub;s'

In so doing however, Haden tosses out any credibility he may have had and has joined the growing heap of neo-cons that are irrelevant.

Ex-cia chief is against the president's release of torture memos.....hmm that shoulld tell you already what you need to know. I'm wondering if Hayden is afraid if Obama allowed prosecution of the cia maybe his name would be on the top of that list. I disagree, releasing these memos was the right thing to do if the president is serious about transparency. Hayden and others are not above the law and if should give anyone pause in the future. The world was well aware of techniques being used so releasing these memos did nothing but reinforce information that was already circulating. The NYT and Red Cross and others had already reported and Bush administration admitted to waterboarding and some other techniques used in the past.

Now, the real question is will the Obama administration decide down the road to prosecute and that is what I think is behind the republican party for coming out strongly against this move (it put Bush legacy in jeopardy).

The CIA renders themselves 'Untouchable.' .......Mr. President, and family, I am praying for you 24/7. Ps. 91 follow you continuously...IJN.

to "the guy next door"
come on over to my house and ill pour water over your face 183 times in 30 days.
when im done we can have a thoughtful discussion about torture.
idiot

I would like to believe that America represents "the city with the lights shining on the hill". Ronald Reagan used that term. Torture should not be carried out by the good guys...that would be us...only certain, and swift, justice.

Michael Hayden probably authorized some of the torture techniques. I am not surprised his concern about the release of the memos implicating him.

So, Hayden....all I hear from you is "Please don't prosecute me!"

Knowledge of crime, especially when one is an attorney and thus a member of the 'court', without suitable follow up action makes you.....A CRIMINAL also. This is the English common law we are alleged to be using. Since President Obama is alleged to be a (Harvard) attorney, one would think the clear evidence of a crime would provoke some LEGAL action, for a change!

Well, yeah. Once the closet door is open and the dirty laundry hits the air, then all the rats who were hiding in the darkness are going to squeal. No surprise here, is there? Yet another conservative has-been slamming Obama. Yawn.

Yes I suppose he does, since it may uncover the rampant degree that neo-cons walked on the Constitution of America.

It is called "checks and balance", Sir, your party got way out of balance, and now President Obama is responsible for writing the checks to get us out of the neo-con mess both nationally and internationally.

Where were his comments when Bush started the war in Iraq? We have not had our military forces this expended since Vietnam. If a true enemy were to confront us, America would be at odds to engage them.

Is this not a true compromise to national security?

I really don't think Obama knows what he is actually doing other than trying to personally gain something. It is obvious that he has no military experience, or is it that he is being misled by his people? The Bush administration did nothing more than any other administration if truth were to be told. In years to come we will probably hear all the untold stories about Obamas antics and you all will be posting items in here bashing him. Let the military do there job and all of you go hug your loved ones and stop the bashing. Many people in this world are unable to do that because they were executed by the real dictators outside the US.

I really, really don't undersand what, why and for whom Obama released the torture memo.

As a former Director of Intelligence for HQ 13th Air Force, I am shocked at General Hayden's comments. Most informed intelligence officers will tell you that torture does not elicit reliable information. There may be exceptions to that generalization, but so what? Is that who we are or want to be? A nation that embraces torture if it is effective? It was sometimes effective to throw one VC prisoner out of a helicopter in Vietnam in order to get the other prisoners on board to talk, but it was also a war crime and repugnant to who we are as a nation. General Hayden ignored the Constitution when he was in charge of NSA and oversaw wireless warrant taps on U.S. citizens. His opinions are less than credible, newsworthy only for the lack of integrity they display.

My parents always taught me to tell the truth. Have I missed something or is it OK to lie now? Thank God we have a honest man in the White House now. Mr Hayden, you need to get some ethics.

Oops, I meant Hayden and Cheney.

Torture is not a tactic it's a thrill! Like rape, it's an act of sadistic brutality through which no peace has ever been won or truth spoken. Men like Gates torture because they like it.

I thought the Bust Administration said " we don't touture" So I guess we broke every rule we fought hard to achieve. Thanks again Bush and Cheney for taking the large step back in public opinion. And congrats to Obama and his team tosave face in the worlds eye.

These are legal memos concerning the interpretation of our Constitution and fundamental laws. As such, We the People may have access to them.

Come on people, this is civics 101, this is one of the founding values of our Nation, be proud we have the courage to be open and honest with our citizens!

Americans need to clean up their own backyard rather than spending billions of dollars trying to prevent a very small potential threat. if you live in any given place in america and one day a law abiden citizen with no history of violence decided to go break his gun cabinet open, grab his 9mm, walk down to the local school and surprise! as a resident of that place i'd be least concern about what the heck is goin on over in irag. as far as your right to bear arms, so was the right to segregation and so many other racial divides that had to be liberated. just picture the country if those rights wern't lifted. don't forget slavery folks. as far as guns its time to move on. law enforcements can't fight crime if one has a aka-47 waiting for the officer whose about to arrest him. anyone can snap as perfect as we think we are.

Mr. Hayden 7 yr's, No Wins! Cheney and you was in control.

The tactics used are nothing compared to what any off us would do to save the life of our families. Torture?
Anything at any cost to hammer the Bush administration.
These arnt honerable soilders or inocent civilians.
There heartless excuses's for humans.
We deprive them of sleep and they cut of our heads.
Given the chance they would kill us all.
Your high morals sure would change if it was your kids life on the line
support your localTerrorist before your fellow americans
You make me sick

If you don't like your memos being released, perhaps you shouldn't torture people in your custody? Just a thought. Also, you torture supporters need to understand something: Just because the goverment labels you a "terrorist" does not make it so. Why do you think so many detainees were released from Gauntanamo in the first place? The US goverment realized they were holding innocent people by MISTAKE and had to let them go. Also, I think it's pretty sad that the US has to compromise its moral authority simple because those on the right piss their pants everytime they see someone in a turban. Torture is never right, period. If you want to use it, then use it, but at least aknowledge that you are on the same level as the Soviet Union, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc.

Hayden should be sent to the Hague to stand trial for war crimes. He's lucky Obama isn't vicious, ideological partisan like Hayden.

"War is all hell." That's how General Sherman saw it, so he proceeded to burn everything in his wake to the ground, killing livestock and poisoning wells to crush the heart of the rebellion as soon as possible. He was a hero to the north and a villain to the south so time will tell how these men are judged, but that will be their only judge. People inside the system are immune to its laws and penalties.

After destroying America,these idiots to go their ONLY country club – otherwise known as Fox News and talk about the Good Ol' days of torturing people. What a joke!

Way to go Michael!!!!

"Michael Hayden, who served as former President Bush's last CIA director" thinks that releasing the truth about Bush – Cheney – CIA is a terrible thing to do. Yea right Michael; lets bury all the UnAmerican screw ups under a rock somewhere. By all means Michael, lets enable the saving of "face" for the worst President and Vice-President
America may have ever known.

"Biased April 19th, 2009 1:55 pm ET
CNN is very biased, not necessarily in this report, but look at their coverage of the Tea Party. The reporter thinks Fox is fascist and is feeding Republicans so called "anti-government". Why can't Democrats and Republicans come together peacefully and make a news station that isn't biased one way or the other. That goes for Fox, CNN, and all of the other ones out there."

Biased, the whole idea of a Tea party is a waste of resources. If these people would have sat down at home, to come up with more brilliant idea that would fascinate Americans like myself, I'd have listened to them, and I'd have given them some air time to broadcast their idea. The ill-informed (mainly Republican) crowds at the tea party (and glad to know none of them drink tea) clearly didn't understand that they should be doing this back in 2003 and continue till today. Back then, GOP held both the Senate and House, and we had a GOP president.... who apparently overspent during the good times. Didn't your old folks (who are mostly conservatives) tell you to save money during the good times so that you can use your money to tie through the bad ones? That's why we have these idiots on the street protesting for don't know what reason and create so much wastes (tea bags)....

Yes, this truly has me angry. But I'm so glad to find my senator disagreeing with this whole line of argument.
She truly fights the good fight.

So the occupation of a country and the collateral deaths of tens of thousands of its citizens is not a recruitment tool?

Hayden should be happy he is not being prosecuted by the Justice Administration for his role in authorizing torture something that civilized nations should never commit. Mr. Hayden you had your turn to be in the spot light for years, it’s time Mr. Obama to clean the mess Bush has created. Also you should be ashamed for wearing the proud uniform of the United States Armed forces and yet break the laws of the United States.

We should remember that this is the same Michael Hayden who, as director of the National Security Agency, oversaw a massive, unconstitutional program that spied on Americans illegally. His moral credibility on these kind of questions is essentially nil as he clearly does not believe the government ought to be a government of laws. And to "The Guy Next Door" who thinks "Waterboarding is not Torture" – my God. It's easy to say that when it isn't happening to you or someone you care about. But unless you let one of your buddies waterboard you on Saturday night for fun, I think we can safely ignore your view. There is almost universal agreement (and this includes John McCain – an actual victim of torture) that waterboarding is torture and therefore completely unacceptable.

Any Military officer who does not understand that negotiation of issues will work, is not taking advantage of the most powerful tools in their arsenal.

Many nations have negotiated their differences and live in Peace, Look at Eqypt and Isreal,

Hayden is lacking as a military officer. In his mind this is all a fight to the death. He subscribs to the "Bring It On" theory, the "you are either for us or against us"

He can not conceive that there is another way besides torture. I hope they do continue the investigations and that public pressure will change the current administrations mind about presecuting these criminal thughs like Cheny and Hayden.

A soldiers job is not to make war. Hayden is a disgrace to the uniform

The era of Bush administration officials playing God with people's lives are over. They are now officially torturers and sadists and should be treated as such. The sooner they are sent to the Hague to answer for their crimes against humanity the better.

Don't you know that the report was already on the WEB.... long time ago.. are you idiot enough to believe that nobody's was not aware of it . Do you think the rest of the world is stupid..Please don't be fool

What I expect them to do is follow the law, which means no torture. I'm sure they are smart enough to get information without slapping someone around naked, or depriving them of water, or almost killing them in their quest to get information. (And by the way, the Fox show "24" is made up!)

I think there needs to be prosecution of Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld and anyone else that CONDONED the torture.

This is the USA – secrets of Bush-era nutjobs attempt to hide the evil done.

spoken like a true war criminal

Um, Mr. Hayden, those techniques CREATED a whole new generation of terrorists, thanks to the Busch-Reich (sic).

Over its history, the CIA's greatest weapon was when individuals in other countries decided that we were the good guys, and risked everything to help us. Under Bush that long-term weapon was thrown away in favor of the perceived short-term benefits of torture. As it turns out, we threw away far more than we gained. Torture proved ineffective (once again) as a policy of state, and all over the world people concluded that we were the bad guys. Even under a cold-blooded analysis that ignores the legal and moral issues involved in torture, the Bush approach to covert action was harmful to the U.S. Those who want the clandestine services to succeed, and aren't blinded by their own fantasies, will see the Obama approach as climbing out of an intelligence morass.

The Guy Next Door:

Yes terrorists did kill 3000 americans. And what did the Bush clan do? Ignore the real culprit and go to war with an entirely different nation using 9/11 as its excuse.

8 years later and the man who killed 3000 people in my home town is still out there. And for what? A war that cost us thousands of American lives, trillions of dollars, and our own self integrity.

It was a war based in lies. If we are truly to be a beacon of honor, human decency, and freedom, then we need to practice what we preach. Torture is only sinking down to their barbaric level. And as someone else said, you torture someone long enough they will tell you anything you want to hear.

Ever almost drown? Waterboarding is torture you can trust me on that.

If water boarding is not torture, then drowning must surely be a pleasurable experience.

mary smithy April 19th, 2009 1:46 pm ET

…and Obama's administration is for partial birth abortion.
What is up with this dude-the most innocent get tortured/put to death while the criminals of USA get lobster and steak???
Obama-some day you will meet your Maker and you WILL be judged!!!

Ah, back to the debunked abortion accusation again, huh? Mary, he did not vote for that bill because Illinois already had a law protecting the unborn. No one is FOR abortion. We just want to keep the government out of our lives (and I am a Democrat!) Someday Mary, anyone who killed or accepted the death of anyone will be judged. "thou shall m]not kill" applies to all of mankind, doesn't it?

Especially since we did not invent these torture techniques, it is no secret they exist. Al-Quada operatives are trained to resist torture, so where is the secret. Nothing stops us from taking prisoners to countries where torture is legal, especially (ironically) the home countries of the people we detain.

Estimated Number of American Citizen deaths from 2001 – 2005.

Terrorism – 3000.
Homicide – 96,000.
Drunk Driving – 102,000.
Suicide – 180,000.
Cancer – 2,311,000.
Smoking – 2,652,000.
Heart Disease – 3,119,000.

Guess which one we spend the most on?

How absurd that the right wing uses the threat of terrorism to intimidate anyone who asks "should our country be doing this?"

Isn't it the right of citizens to know what their country does in their name?

We tried Bush's "trust us" approach to government. It was a failure.

To "The Guy Next Door": If waterboarding is not torture, will you volunteer to be waterboared?

nothing on fox news is credible.
interview ignored.

@Tom in Delaware:

The report didn't leave anything out. If you were to download and read all of it, you would know that there are comments to the contrary of what you have just spoken of. One of the memos later addressed this and that memo has stated as fact that the information obtained did NOT lead to anything viable, nor was this individual as "high ranking" as was first originally thought.

Why isn't this guy in jail?

He needs to keep his trap shut and go away to the GOP fairyland

Hey Guy, water boarding IS torture, and guess what, those big bad terrorists already knew exactly how we treated our political prisoners, innocent or not. ILLEGALLY! If we want to be a civil society and not a bunch of armed barbarians, we must abide by laws and the Constitution. Bush did neither, and that is why he will be prosecuted eventually. No one in this country is above the law, and Bush did not, repeat, did not keep us safer by doing whatever he pleased.

First of all, we all know that CIA operatives were using those techniques long before some memo said they were legal, and will continue to use them long after the memo is withdrawn... Second, why do these idiots continue to defend tactics that DID NOT WORK!!!! 9/11 did not happen because we hadn't tortured enough information out of terrorists; it happened because we failed to process available intelligence data in a timely fashion, data that was readily available without the use of torture. Get real – this guy sounds like he's applying for a job w/ some right-wing think tank...

How does waterboarding put us at the same level as Al Queda? You people do realize that they have sawed off Americans' heads and flew airplanes into buildings, causing people to burn to death, don't you? Call me ridiculous, but I don't think a little water, (while a doctor is standing right there) consitutes as torture. How exactly are we supposed to get any life-saving info out of these people? Liberals, what are your solutions?

The Geneva Convention is crystal clear about torture. We should have trials, so Bush has a chance to clear his name.

Hayden and fools like him were lead by an idiot George Bush and we wondered how the Country got so messed up.

Wonder what other secrets he will reveal befoer he is out of office, We are in a great time of trying to defend our country after he opens all the pandora boxes. Has he not shame of regard for the American people he promised to take care of and protect? He must have has his fingers crossed behind his abck when he was under oath.

I'm not feeling safe in my own country if "The Guy Next Door" thinks waterboarding is not torture.

Actions MUST have consequences otherwise PEOPLE will break the rules that keep society functioning.

The (now) FEDERAL judge that authored these EXCUSE memos should be impeached and removed from office. He was full of himself to think that we'd actual buy his load of crap.

If, at this point, these people don't have enough common decency to be ASHAMED for what they've done, they should be prosecuted.

Somehow the last administration has gotten away with arguing that the only way to protect the country is by violating federal and international laws against torture. It is truly despicable that those who were supposed to defend the Rule of Law and the Principles of the Constitution were violating both, and, even worse, some Americans think it was patriotic.

The Bush administration was bad but Obama is proving that he is going to be worse.

Where was this guy when the Bush Administration outed a CIA agent so they could sell the Iraq Invasion to the country? I guess he still thinks most people in the world don't think the US tortured people. Whoops the only ones who still think that are the Bush Neo-cons and a few remaining cult followers. With the release of the memos the Bush Admin and supporters can no longer claim that the US does not torture. The cat is truly out of the bag. Now all they have left to is to blame it on Obama. Typical song and dance by the GOP. Just another wonder part of the legacy of incompetence tduring the Bush Administration.

Ok before a lieu of comments about waterboarding... Has anyone every BEEN waterboarded? Has anyone experienced a fraction of a second worth of HORRIBLE psychological trauma associated with thoughts of drowning and blood rush and pain? It is HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE; if anyone ever did that to me again for minutes, perhaps hours on end – even as a simple experience – I would tell them anything they wanted to hear. Torture does not work.

Does this guy look and sound as scared as dick Cheney does these days? They both seem to be defending themselves a bit early which indicates fear.

What's the matter Mr. Hayden, Don't like your dirty deeds being looked at under the light of day? You have dishonored longstanding American principles which abhor the torture of human beings and animals, have disregarded civil liberties over security, are a disgrace to your uniform and have proven yourself to be better than our enemies.

All our troops are in greater danger of being tortured when captured because of you, what moral high ground can we now claim when this happens?

If "enhanced interrogation techniques" (a/k/a "torture") are so effective, giv e us some specific examples of how information obtained by these methods helped prevent attacks or otherwise defeat our enemies. If disclosure of specifics would compromise our security, how about some generalized stories? I doubt there are any, because experts agree that torture doesn't work.

I completely agree with Peter E., Bush and Cheney should be tried for war crimes in the World Court;. they have destroyed the reputation of and any faith in this country.

It had nothing to do with emboldening Al Qaida..............it has to do with crimes against humanity..............the whole lot of them should be in the Hague being tried for these crimes..........they are all criminals and if the world does not judge them, we know that God will.....their
day will come.

This torture loving sadist belongs in prison with Bush, Cheney and most of the Bush administration for war crimes. We executed Japanese and Germans that did the exact same things in WW II. And torture doesn't work – but these sadists get a thrill from torturing, the only time Cheney smiles and his eyes light up are talking about torture – IT IS A SICKNESS!

Are people not aware that if you torture someone long enough they will tell you anything you want to hear and believe it too!

President Obama plainly stated months ago the US does not torture (anymore). We will no longer carry out the practices of the former president therefore we can release the documents proving Bush, and all those who without questioning, did torture. I personally am angry that there will no prosecution of these war criminals. I would love to see them all rot in prison.

The DEMS hate America more than ever as evidenced by their recent misleading, uninformed, and hateful comments.

These people can't see beyond the points of their noses. They just can't grasp the seriousness of the release of this type of information and the impact such information can have.

It's Terrorists we are fighting. The same Terrorists who killed 3000 Americans and beheaded more. The scary aspect of all this is that BHO believes as the Far-Left does and will sell our country inch by inch down the road to destruction.

While all this is going on, you idiots will be dancing in the street until the Terrorists behead you and your family.

Waterboarding is not Torture.

Ah, Mr. Hayden, here is a new flash for you. The world and presumably all that live in it already knew that the United States applied "torture". As far as "more" investigations, yes indeed, I should hope there will be more. This isn't a tatic our country should be "proud" of and tout as acceptable. And as far as "expecting" the CIA to torture on my behalf, really sir, aren't you being a bit presumptous? Indeed, if all of the torture that occurred was so productive, why hasn't Bin Laden been brought to justice yet?

The whole Bush Admin. should all be in prison. Just look at all the things they have done to this world. Thousands dead, trillions of dollars spend, economy a wreck, 5.1 million people job lost b/c of their policies, the U.S. hated all over the world b/c of their hateful ways against people, HURRICANE KATRINA, HURRICANE KATRINA, need I say more.

CNN is very biased, not necessarily in this report, but look at their coverage of the Tea Party. The reporter thinks Fox is fascist and is feeding Republicans so called "anti-government". Why can't Democrats and Republicans come together peacefully and make a news station that isn't biased one way or the other. That goes for Fox, CNN, and all of the other ones out there.

Unfortunately the moronic administration left blacked out the information that the terrorists revealed from their 'torture', so that no argument could be made that these techniques revealed vital information to the security and saftey of the American people....how convenient.

Bad move by Obama again.

Somebody ought to put a catapiller on his shoulder.

Obama has to remember these guys still want us removed from the face of the earth by what ever means possible.

...and Obama's administration is for partial birth abortion.
What is up with this dude-the most innocent get tortured/put to death while the criminals of USA get lobster and steak???
Obama-some day you will meet your Maker and you WILL be judged!!!

I love the tired old straw-man argument that what we do is a a great recruitment tool for those who want to do harm to our country.

Bogus. Anyone who believes it is a fool.

It's a good thing this torture-loving general is out of power.

No national security was compromised, because all the methods were pretty much known, and they are all methods we no longer use.

When it comes to torture, concentration camps, rendition, and spying on other Americans, America has returned to the ideal of "Americans don't do that." Some people like Hayden and Cheney don't like that, but what does that say about them?

Americans are falsely led to believe by the media and Hollywood that torture is the only interrogation method that works. In fact, as revealed by Matthew Alexander, a former Gunatanamo Bay interrogator himself, torture is the least effective, least reliable interrogation method. Torture is a waste of time when other, more civil interrogation methods are available that are more reliable, yield results more quickly, and hence would make our country more safe.

no one is above the law!!

So it's wrong because it shows that the CIA does wrong things? I call covering hind end BS on this. They are only upset that they are getting caught doing wrong.