WASHINGTON – The United States has beefed up precautions to protect Americans and U.S. facilities abroad in anticipation of possibly violent responses to the release of a long-awaited Senate report on harsh interrogation techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday.
The U.S. military has put thousands of troops on alert ahead of Tuesday's release of the report, which is expected to detail the CIA's post-Sept. 11 detention and interrogation program, defense officials said.
"There are some indications that … the release of the report could lead to a greater risk that is posed to U.S. facilities and individuals all around the world," Earnest said. "So, the administration has taken the prudent steps to ensure that the proper security precautions are in place at U.S. facilities around the globe."
But President Obama still "strongly supports the release of the declassified summary" of the report, said Earnest, adding that it could be an opportunity to "be clear about what American values are and be clear about the fact that the administration believes … that something like this should never happen again."
Earnest said that the administration and intelligence officials had been working with the Senate Intelligence Committee to release as much information as possible.
The document, a nearly 500-page summary of a 6,200-page report compiled by the committee's Democrats, has been the subject of sparring between the panel and the CIA. Those familiar with its contents have described it as critical of detainee treatment in secret CIA prisons in the years following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It also is said to conclude that the use of harsh interrogation methods was not effective.
Pressed about whether Obama believes that useful, actionable information had been obtained from the methods employed against suspected terrorists and other foes, Earnest said that "even if they did" the president believes "that it wasn't worth it, and it did not enhance the national security of the United States of America."
The president has said that some of the interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding and sleep deprivation, amounted to torture.
Army Gens. Lloyd Austin and David Rodriguez, the commanders of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa Command, respectively, have ordered troops be placed on a higher alert status after the Pentagon called for combatant commanders across the world to review security plans they had in place.
U.S. officials are most worried about a violent backlash in Africa and the Middle East, or in countries where anti-American sentiments often run strong, including Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The troops on heightened states of alert are mostly Marines, a Pentagon official said. The units involved include a crisis-response unit that has Marines in Sigonella, Italy, and Morón, Spain, a second crisis-response unit with troops in Kuwait and Iraq, and 50-man teams of fleet anti-terrorism security team (FAST) Marines that are typically called upon to reinforce U.S. embassies.
About 4,000 Marines and sailors with the three-ship Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, out of San Diego, also are currently in the Middle East. The USS Makin Island, the main ship in the group, was in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, Navy officials said on the ship's Facebook page. On board are Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, of Camp Pendleton, Calif. They also have the ability to reinforce embassies if required.
