Ex-CIA heads call for end to torture probe

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Seven former CIA directors urged U.S. President Barack Obama Friday to drop an investigation into alleged abuse of terrorism suspects during interrogations.

Proceeding with the investigation would "create an atmosphere of continuous jeopardy" for interrogators who had been cleared of wrongdoing by prosecutors, the former directors said in a letter to the president, The Washington Post reported.

The former directors, who served Republican and Democratic presidents in the past 35 years, wrote the letter in response to Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement last month that he would appoint a special investigator to look into whether some CIA interrogators and contractors went beyond legal bounds provided by the Bush administration. The inquiry would focus on interrogations of terrorism suspects in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001.

"Those men and women who undertake difficult intelligence assignments in the aftermath of an attack such as Sept. 11 must believe there is permanence in the legal rules that govern their actions," the men said in their letter, The New York Times reported.

The former directors said the investigation would result in release of information that "can only help al-Qaida elude capture" and would lead foreign intelligence agencies to conclude they could not trust the United States to protect secrets.

The former directors who signed the letter are Michael Hayden, Porter Goss, George Tenet, John Deutch, R. James Woolsey, William Webster and James R. Schlesinger.

In a statement Friday, the Justice Department said, "The attorney general works closely with the men and the women of intelligence community to keep the American people safe and he does not believe their commitment to conduct that important work will waver in any way."