Former House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Pete King (R-N.Y.) said Sunday it will be difficult to reverse the damage done to the CIA’s reputation following the release of the enhanced interrogation report.
{mosads}But the New York Republican said political leaders must “stop hating” CIA officials who are protecting the country from terror attacks.
“I think it’s important for people like myself and people in the media to speak out and say the people at the CIA did an excellent job, that the people of the CIA operated under the most extenuating circumstances, that they’re responsible for stopping attacks against the United States and that we have to stop this self-loathing,” King said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“To me, the burden is on us; the burden is on people of influence to stop hating ourselves, and to stop hating those asked to do the job.”
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) released a report last week detailing the “harsh interrogation techniques” used by the CIA in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It alleges that top CIA brass kept members of Congress in the dark about those methods.