Following the release of a graphic Senate report on CIA interrogation practices on Tuesday, more than 6,000 Marines have been placed on "high alert" in Europe and the Middle East, a Marine spokesman told Fox News.
The scathing report, issued by the Senate Intelligence Committee and released by Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., describes enhanced interrogation techniques in gruesome detail, further accusing the CIA of not only using "brutal" techniques that were ineffective, but also keeping the information from the Justice Department.
Anticipation of a possible backlash has now put U.S. troops on high alert, in what are called "Crisis Response Teams."
While threats of militants targeting and attacking have forced Marines into "heightened force protection mode," they are reportedly also being prepared to take "prudent measures" to protect American civilians and diplomats in case of a surprise attack.
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered combatant commanders to be on "high alert" as well.
U.S. embassies in Europe, the Middle East and throughout the world have also been placed on high alert, with a spokesperson for the embassy in London telling Fox News that the State Department had instructed them to "review the security posture" of the facility.
Although the U.S. embassy in Cairo, the scene of a violent demonstration in 2012 over an anti-Islam video, hasn't taken any additional preventive measures other than the one requested by the State Department, a spokesman confirmed that a notice had been issued on Dec. 4 for employees and Americans in Egypt to not "stray too far from home" due to security concerns.
Meanwhile, the CIA insisted the controversial interrogations had helped save lives, according to a statement.
"The intelligence gained from the program was critical to our understanding of al-Qaeda and continues to inform our counterterrorism efforts to this day," CIA Director John Brennan said.
