Bush Publicly Acknowledges CIA Secret Prisons for First Time, Transfers Detainees to Guantanamo

President George W. Bush publicly acknowledges for the first time that the CIA has been operating secret prisons to hold and interrogate terrorism suspects, confirming what journalists and human rights organizations had been reporting for years. In a White House speech, Bush admits that “a small number of suspected terrorist leaders and operatives” have been held at secret CIA detention facilities where they were subjected to “an alternative set of procedures” that he claims were “safe, lawful, and effective.” The admission comes as Bush announces the transfer of 14 “high-value detainees” from CIA custody to Guantanamo Bay, finally providing them with some legal protections after years of complete isolation.

Bush defends the black site program as essential to obtaining intelligence that prevented terrorist attacks, claiming enhanced interrogation techniques were necessary because traditional methods proved ineffective with hardened terrorists. He insists the program complied with U.S. law and treaty obligations, framing it as a lawful alternative to regular interrogation rather than systematic torture. The president argues that CIA interrogators needed flexibility to question dangerous terrorists, stating “the procedures were tough, and they were safe, and lawful, and necessary.” Bush does not specify which countries hosted the black sites or describe the specific interrogation techniques used, maintaining operational secrecy while acknowledging the program’s existence.

The 14 detainees transferred to Guantanamo include some of the CIA’s most prominent torture victims: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (waterboarded 183 times), Abu Zubaydah (waterboarded 83 times and subjected to extended torture), Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri (waterboarded and tortured in multiple black sites), and others held in complete isolation for as long as four years. The transfer follows a June 2006 Supreme Court ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions applies to detainees, creating legal pressure to move CIA prisoners out of extrajudicial black sites into facilities with at least nominal legal oversight.

The acknowledgment is carefully timed to coincide with congressional debates over the Military Commissions Act and interrogation policies. Bush seeks legislative authorization for continued CIA interrogations and military commission trials for the transferred detainees. The speech is designed to pressure Congress to provide legal cover for past torture while enabling future “enhanced interrogations.” Bush frames the choice as between protecting Americans through tough interrogations or endangering security by restricting CIA methods, warning that failure to authorize the program would require its shutdown.

The ACLU and human rights organizations denounce the acknowledgment as an admission of war crimes. International legal experts note that holding individuals in secret detention with no access to courts, lawyers, or the Red Cross for years constitutes enforced disappearance—itself a crime under international law—regardless of whether torture occurred. The fact that detainees were held at sites whose locations and existence were classified violates their fundamental rights and international treaties governing detention and humane treatment.

Bush’s acknowledgment carefully avoids the word “torture,” instead using euphemisms like “alternative set of procedures” and “enhanced interrogation techniques.” This linguistic framing attempts to normalize practices that international law categorizes as torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. The admission marks a watershed moment where the president openly defends systematic practices that previous administrations would have condemned as illegal. Rather than expressing regret or promising accountability, Bush demands that Congress authorize continued use of secret prisons and interrogation techniques that the CIA claims are essential. The speech illustrates how torture became official U.S. policy defended at the highest levels, rather than an aberration committed by rogue actors. When the Senate Intelligence Committee later documents that the CIA’s claims about the program’s effectiveness were fabricated, Bush’s justifications are exposed as lies—but by then, the torture precedents are established and the perpetrators granted immunity.