Obama Warned By Ex-CIA Directors On Justice Probe Of Detainee Interrogators

Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to order a review of the controversial interrogation techniques used by Central Intelligence Agency employees on high-value terrorist detainees during the prior administration has drawn a cautionary letter to President Barack Obama from seven former CIA directors.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly had the following report for the network's newscast.

Holder's decision to review possible CIA abuses after 9/11 was greeted with dismay at (the intelligence agency's) headquarters.

In the letter to President Obama, the seven former directors argue that it creates, "an atmosphere of continuous jeopardy."

The former directors write, "those men and women who undertake difficult intelligence assignments in the aftermath of an attack such as September 11 must believe there is permanence in the legal rules that govern their action."

They also argue the inquiry will make CIA spies less likely to take risks and that foreign spy agencies will be less likely to cooperate with the U.S.

The letter is signed by General Mike Hayden, Porter Goss, George Tenet, John Deutch, Jim Woolsey, William Webster and James Schlesinger.