Dick Cheney’s Pro-Torture Claims Debunked by CIA Inspector Gen.

The CIA inspector general’s report — which former VP Dick Cheney himself urged be released — not only did not back up Cheney’s claims about the effectiveness of enhanced interrogation, it seemed to contradict the former vice president’s claims at every turn.

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow systematically debunked Cheney’s claims that the CIA inspector general’s report shows “the evidence is overwhelming that [enhanced interrogation techniques] were crucial” in gaining useful information from terrorist suspects.

Maddow pointed out that report stated “there is limited data on which to assess [the torture techniques'] individual effectiveness.”

She also pointed out that Ali Soufan, who interrogated Al Qaeda senior leader Abu Zubaydah for the FBI, told a Congressional committee that using “intelligent” interrogation techniques resulted in Zubaydah giving up actionable intelligence within an hour, but when “enhanced interrogation” was applied, he “shut down and stopped talking.”