Fw: The torture testimony that Cheney is trying to drown out

Dear Farhad, The debate on torture must not be led by Former Vice President Cheney's press tour Fight back: Demand the truth about torture, not more spin. Urge President Obama to set up a nonpartisan inquiry on torture today! Fox News on Saturday. Meet the Press on Sunday. In the wake of several investigations into the Bush administration's use of torture, and despite expert evidence to the contrary, Former Vice President Cheney has been all over the press saying that torture actually worked. Why is he suddenly making such a loud case for torture? His side of the debate is trying to drown out new evidence that torture actually weakened American security. The scary thing is, even today, as we heard new testimony from seasoned FBI interrogator Ali Soufan showing why torture does not work and how the Bush administration's insistence on using these techniques actually hurt our intelligence gathering – much of the public is only hearing Cheney's side of the debate. So today we need your help to push back. Urge President Obama to set up a nonpartisan inquiry on torture to evaluate the full cost of abuses, look at how we got there, and come up with safeguards so we don't repeat the same mistakes. Your action isn't just critical to making sure we inform the public – even some Senators aren't listening to the evidence of experts. In a Senate hearing today, FBI interrogator Ali Soufan clearly laid out in his testimony that "harsh interrogation methods are harmful, shameful, slower, unreliable, ineffective, and play directly into the enemy's handbook." Senator Lindsey Graham — who has zero interrogation experience or expertise —  actually responded, "One of the reasons these techniques have survived for about 500 years is apparently they work." Wrong, wrong, wrong. Even before today's testimony, Human Rights First has worked with dozens of experienced interrogators and retired generals and admirals who firmly stand against torture, as an inhumane – and ineffective – technique. The reality is that there is no debate, and this false back and forth about torture's effectiveness is keeping us from moving forward. Help us increase the pressure – support a nonpartisan inquiry to get to the truth and make sure we never make the same mistake again! Sincerely, Sharon Kelly Human Rights First Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this.  Tell-a-friend! If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for Human Rights First. Please visit your subscription management page to control which publications you receive from Human Rights First. If you would like to unsubscribe from ALL email lists operated by Human Rights First, you can respond to this email with "remove" as the subject or click here to remove yourself.