The 2004 report, released after an order by a federal judge, asserted that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attack, provided CIA interrogators with information that "led to the investigation and prosecution" of Iyman Faris, a native of Pakistan who was living in Columbus.
Faris, 39, is serving a 20-year sentence after admitting that he had scouted the Brooklyn Bridge in 2002 as a possible target of a terrorist attack. Although al-Qaida considered cutting the lines of suspension bridges in New York City to cause their collapse, Faris apparently concluded in early 2003 that it was not feasible.
The report, written by the CIA's inspector general, detailed a series of abuses in questioning al-Qaida operatives who were captured in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, which killed 3,000 Americans, destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center and damaged part of the Pentagon.
Although the heavily censored 259-page report focuses on waterboarding and other harsh techniques that CIA officials employed, the inspector general acknowledged that "there is no doubt the (harsh interrogation) program has been effective."
The report said information provided by the detainees "assisted in the identification of terrorists," including Faris. The report added that "detainees, both planners and operatives, have also made the (CIA) aware of several plots planned for the United States and around the world," including flying a hijacked airliner into the tallest building in California.
"This review did not uncover any evidence that these plots were imminent," the report concluded. But CIA senior managers "believe that lives have been saved as a result of the capture and interrogation of terrorists who were planning attacks."
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants, was captured March 1, 2003, in Pakistan. According to the report, he was waterboarded 183 times that month. The FBI arrested Faris on March 20, 2003, and he pleaded guilty on May 1 of that year.
David B. Smith, a Virginia attorney who represented Faris, said he has known for a few years that Mohammed "had given up Faris' name under some kind of severe interrogation."
The federal courts later rejected Faris' effort to withdraw his guilty plea. He is now serving his sentence in a federal facility in Colorado.
Two of his Columbus-area friends also are in federal lockups:
• Nuradin Abdi, a native of Somalia, pleaded guilty in July 2007 to conspiring to support terrorists and is serving a 10-year sentence for plotting to blow up an unidentified local shopping mall.
• Christopher Paul, a graduate of Thomas Worthington High School, was sentenced in February to 20 years for conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction on targets in Europe and the United States.
Former Republican Sen. Mike DeWine, who served on the Senate Intelligence Committee that had access years ago to the report, said the captured terrorists "are ugly, nasty human beings who were bent on destroying us."
"So when people judge the techniques that were used, I think they have to put it in a proper perspective," said DeWine, now a Republican candidate for Ohio attorney general. "As the inspector general report points out, information they received from these individuals saved lives. This was very valuable information."
But Carrie Davis, staff counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, said, "There have been studies galore showing that these so-called enhanced interrogation techniques -- or torture -- are ineffective.
"Generally, the problem is there is no way to verify the accuracy of this information and when somebody is being tortured they're going to say anything. So there is a real question of accuracy."
The CIA report sparked intense debate among lawmakers on Capitol Hill, many of whom object to the harsh tactics. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has named an independent prosecutor to examine possible abuse.
Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Columbus, said, "Abu Ghraib-like abuses hurt our standing in the world and do not make us safer. I look forward to the findings of the Justice Department review and hope it will improve our national security efforts."
However, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, said the "men and women who protect this country should never have to worry that they will face criminal prosecution as a result of a political election." Boehner charged that Holder's decision "smacks more of a witch hunt designed to satisfy political allies than a strategy to keep the American people safe."
Garrette Silverman, a spokeswoman for Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, said he believes that "America's image in the world is critical to our leadership. Still, the success and efficacy of our intelligence community is predicated upon a talented and capable team of operators and analysts. Morale is important -- Sen. Voinovich believes we need to focus on best practices for the future and not be preoccupied with the past."
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, D-Cleveland, was among those who contend the probe ordered by Holder doesn't go far enough.
Dispatch Washington Bureau Chief Jonathan Riskind contributed to this story.
