WASHINGTON, December 16 (Sputnik) — The release of the so-called "torture report" by the US Senate Intelligence Committee has not led to any violent incidents at US embassies overseas, US Career Ambassador Ryan Crocker told Sputnik on Tuesday.
"I've been heartened that so far there have been no violent incidents," Crocker said, addressing public concerns of ex-CIA officials that US embassy security would be threatened with the release of the Senate report.
Crocker added that the US has "certainly taken all the possible precautions that we can" to protect US embassies abroad.
In the course of his foreign service, Crocker worked in some of the most challenging Middle East nations, including Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. He said that he hoped the release of the report would be seen as how institutional "oversight and accountability" work in a democracy.
Ahead of the December 9 publication of the US Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA's use of enhanced interrogation techniques against accused terrorist detainees, the White House announced increased security precautions. A White House spokesman noted that they had "some indications" of "great risk" to US overseas facilities given the publication of the report.
Former CIA director Michael Hayden, who opposed the release of the report, warned prior to the report's release that the contents could be used by the enemies of the United States to motivate people to attack US nationals in US facilities overseas.
On December 9, the US Senate Intelligence Committee published a 500-page report which revealed that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used torture methods on suspected terrorists in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in Washington and New York.
