Washington ? Release of Bush-era documents that shed more light on the origins of the CIA’s use of harsh interrogation tactics has ignited a backstage battle between former Bush officials over a crucial May 2002 meeting that paved the way for use of waterboarding on a suspected al-Qaida leader.

The fracas over who was responsible for authorizing use of the simulated drowning tactic and other harsh techniques on captured suspect Abu Zubayda is raising new questions about that 2002 decision and follow-up moves that allowed the CIA to use the now-banned techniques.

Some former Bush officials argue that they were not properly warned by CIA officials about the potential perils of the severe methods, while others insist there were explicit cautions.

A former senior Bush administration official familiar with the deliberations told The Associated Press that during a meeting of Bush senior officials in May 2002, then-CIA director George Tenet, backed by agency lawyers and CIA officers, reassured former NSC director Condoleezza Rice, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and others that waterboarding and other harsh techniques were both safe and necessary.

The former official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue’s continuing sensitivity, said Tenet and other CIA officials did not mention the techniques’ potential legal and physical dangers.

Tenet was not available for comment Saturday. Rice and other former Bush administration principals involved in or aware of the May 2002 meeting have not responded to efforts by the AP to obtain comment in recent days.

Rice told the Senate Armed Services Committee last fall that she and other senior Bush officials were told that the harsh interrogation methods would not cause significant psychological or physical harm.

But a former senior intelligence official also aware of the internal 2002 discussions disputed that account. He dismissed the charge that Tenet had presented the harsh methods to the NSC as the only possible option. The intelligence official, who also spoke with anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said the CIA had insisted on having the program legally reviewed to be sure it comported both with U.S. law and policy.

The intelligence official noted that senior policymakers and lawyers were responsible for fully evaluating the potential impacts of the CIA proposal.

A Senate Armed Service Committee report released last week said that along with Tenet, Rice and Ashcroft, others attending the critical May 2002 session were then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, former NSC deputy adviser Stephen Hadley and John Bellinger, then-legal adviser to the NSC.