impossible to get around it. that s a little bit of a disclaimer. hard to get around it. because reaction is pouring in to the highly controversial senate intelligence committee report on cia interrogations that was released on tuesday. it states the agency repeatedly deceaived about its methods. were ineffective and much more brutal than represented. the cia is pushing back. director john brennan challenge, key findings alongside former directors who dismissed the report as one sided and marred by errors. senator feinstein chair of the senate intelligence committee spoke about the report yesterday on the senate floor in graphic detail. detainees were subjected to the most aggressive techniques immediately. stripped naked, diapered, physically struck and put in various painful stress positions
stripped naked, diapered, physically struck and put in various painful stress positions for long periods of time. they were deprived of sleep for days. in one case, up to 180 hours. reporter: one detainee had his lunch pureed and poured into his rectum. he eventually attempted to cut his wrists, chew into his arm and cut a vein in his foot. much of the information kept from president george w. bush s own secretary of state. there are cia records stating that colin powell wasn t told about the program at first because there were concerns that, and i quote, powell would blow his stack if he were briefed. reporter: a former top cia official says some details were held close, but that the agency did not engage in torture. absolutely not. absolutely not.
got will and kate s phone number. it s wednesday, december 10th. announcer: from abc news, this is world news now. good morning. i m reena ninan. i m t.j. holmes. intense reaction that continues to the senate report on torture methods used by the cia. a former head of the spy agency says those methods saved thousands of american lives. critics counter the tactics were brutal and they gathered little or no useful information. here s abc s martha raddatz. reporter: the details of what american interrogators did to detainees in the dark days after 9/11 are vivid and gruesome. stripped naked and diapered. one detainee chained to a wall for 17 straight days in a standing position. another threatened with a drill. one left to die in a cell from hypothermia. at least five detainees were hydrated or fed through a tube inserted into the colon to give the interrogator, quote, total control over the detainee.
the senate debate today was thoughtful and well reasoned on both sides. and left very few of us undecided. this program has been and remains one of the most vitalle tools in the war against terrorists. today, the trofrian and damning torture report was finally released. this is the result. $40 million, 5 1/2 year, and this is only the summary. let me now turn to the contents of the study. gruesome details on what was done in the name of intelligence gather popping. this was done in our name, the american people s name. detainees were often subject to harsh and brutal interrogation. stripped naked, diapered, physically struck, constantly shackled in isolated cells. they were deprived of sleep for days.
how the interrogation of cia detainees were absolutely brutal, far worse than the cia represented them to policy makers and others. beginning with the first detainee, abu zubaydah and continuing with many others, the cia applied its so-called enhanced interrogation techniques in combination for days and even weeks at a time on one detainee. in contrast, the cia representations, the detainees were subjected to the most aggressive techniques immediately, stripped naked, diapered, physically struck and put in various painful stress positions for long periods of time. they were deprived of sleep for days. in one case, up to 180 hours. that s 7 1/2 days over a week with no sleep.