This is an excellent article about the use of interrogation techniques by the CIA and private sector contractors hired by the CIA: Pelosis loss, our gain
A couple of thoughts:
Many of todays references in the media seem to suggest that it is somehow better to have hired a private contractor to do your dirty work over whom you claim to have had no control, and who you claim is incompetent...I'd like to point out that as with everything, the buck stops at the top level, especially when you are deliberately hiring someone because you know that if you did it yourself you might be prosecuted.
It is criminal of the Bush administration to have excluded private sector contractors from prosecution. This excludes the majority of the army and special forces that were operating in Iraq. And by the same yardstick, it is criminal of the Obama administration to have excluded CIA members from prosecution. Their victims, and their victim's families deserve justice. And future generations deserve justice so that next time CIA members are asked to do this kind of work, they refuse because they know that they are not immune. Obama is sending a message that it is ok to let torturer's off the hook. But I think that everyone who participates in torture knows as they do it that it is a criminal act, and they do it anyway.