(CNSNews.com) - The ranking Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence told CNSNews.com that releasing Central Intelligence Agency documents describing the effectiveness of the enhanced interrogation techniques that the CIA used on a few high-level terrorist detainees would show that these techniques worked.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R.-Mich.) said that he had called several months ago for these documents to be released, a proposal that has been pushed by former Vice President Dick Cheney. In an earlier interview with CNSNews.com, former Senate Intelligence Chairman Bob Graham (D.-Fla.) said that he also believed the CIA documents detailing the effectiveness of the enhanced interrogation techniques should be released.

In March, President Obama released a series of memos prepared for the CIA by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. These memos were written to advise the CIA on the legality of using enhanced interrogation techniques on a limited number of high-level captured terrorists. The techniques in question had all been borrowed from the U.S. military’s Survival, Evasion, Rescue and Escape (SERE) training, and the Justice Department told the CIA the techniques would in fact be legal to use in the circumstances the CIA intended to use them.



At the same time, President Obama did not release CIA documents that detail the effectiveness of the techniques when they were actually used. These documents have still not been released, although they would seemingly settle the debate over whether the techniques were useful or not.

President Obama has banned the techniques in question, and some critics have claimed that they were not effective in eliciting valuable information from the high-level detainees on which they were used.

CNSNews.com has previously reported that the CIA confirmed the accuracy of factual representations made in one of the Justice Department memos that an al Qaeda plot to perpetrate a 9/11 style attack on Los Angeles was thwarted using information that was obtained from 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammad only after he was subjected to waterboarding--the most severe of the enhanced interrogation techniques, which the CIA used only on KSM and two other captives.

In an interview with CNSNews, Rep. Hoekstra said the techniques were not a “magic silver bullet that unleashed everything” but provided “a critical piece of that puzzle” in discerning the threat against the United States.

When asked why President Obama was not releasing the memos detailing the effectiveness of the techniques, Hoekstra said, “By the absence of releasing these documents it appears that he only wants to release one side of the debate, the side of the debate that would say these techniques should not have been used, they are inappropriate, and he doesn’t want to show the other side of the story But, again, only the president can explain why he is only selectively releasing documents.”

Here is a transcript of CNSNews.com’s interview with the ranking member of the House Intelligence committee:
   
CNSNews.com: Former Vice President Cheney has said that the documents—the CIA documents and memos detailing interrogation techniques, the effectiveness of those techniques--should be declassified and released to the public. Former Intelligence Chair in the Senate, [Bob] Graham [D.-Fla.], has also said the same thing, that he agrees with Cheney. Do you agree with that as well?

Hoekstra: I’ve called for the release of those documents a number of months ago. I think that as we take a look at the threat that continues, we need to take a look at programs we have had in place, whether they have been effective or not. And I think this provides a wonderful opportunity. There’s been a lot of debate, and a lot of discussion. None of this stuff is classified anymore. Let’s release those memos. Let’s make sure the American people can see how well they worked to keep America safe.

CNSNews.com: And if those are released, what kind of things would they show?

Hoekstra: Well, I think that what they would demonstrate is that the use of various techniques through the interrogation process makes a difference in our ability to get the kind of information that Americans need, and that our military and intelligence community and our political leaders need, to keep us safe. You know, we get better information to have more informed decisions.

CNSNews.com: President Obama has the power to release these documents. Why do you think he hasn’t done so yet?

Hoekstra: Well, I mean, only the president can answer that question. I know that he has made the decision to release certain documents: the legal documents that provide the underpinning for the program that some people have now called into question as to whether the justification was good enough or thorough enough. But, you know, by the absence of releasing these documents it appears that he only wants to release one side of the debate, the side of the debate that would say these techniques should not have been used, they are inappropriate, and he doesn’t want to show the other side of the story. But, again, only the president can explain why he is only selectively releasing documents.

CNSNews.com: Do you think that if these are released it would show the effectiveness of these techniques and that is why the president may not want them released?

Hoekstra: I think, from my perspective, it will show that they were helpful in putting together a total picture and total understanding of what the threats that we faced were.   So, yeah, from my perspective, did they help, did they work? Yes. Do they provide the magic silver bullet that unleashed everything? Of course not. That’s not how intelligence works. You get a little piece over here, you get a piece over there, you get a piece over here, and that helps you put together the puzzle. This was a critical piece of that puzzle.

CNSNews.com: Do you think the changes President Obama has made to President Bush’s national security policy, such as closing Guantanamo Bay, have made America more susceptible to another terrorist attack or less susceptible?
 
Hoekstra: Well, the good thing is the president has talked about changing the policies. But in effect, he hasn’t changed them. I mean, Gitmo is still open, and I think it will still be open in six months. He’s got a surge going on now in Afghanistan. He’s executing the president’s [Bush’s] policy in Iraq. He’s continuing the close cooperation with the Pakistanis. So, I’m not sure that we’ve seen all that much change in the actual events that are happening on the ground. What we’re seeing is a change in rhetoric, saying one thing, and then actually taking a look at the policy, and you see that the policies of the Bush administration, in many cases, are continuing.

CNSNews.com: So, you’re saying that the rhetoric has but the actual foreign policy that he has put into place, President Obama, is not much different from President Bush’s?
 
Hoekstra: The threats from radical jihadists, the actions on the ground in many cases, are very, very similar. Obviously, there are major differences in foreign policy, about how we are approaching Iran, how we are approaching North Korea, how we are apologizing in the Middle East, how we’re apologizing in Europe, and those kinds of things. Those all have a bearing on foreign policy and how safe America is. I don’t like some of these polices. I think that they do jeopardize us to a little bit of an extent.  But for the real meaningful military operations, the intelligence operations, as much as this president is talking about change, we haven’t seen a whole lot.