The Real CIA News

[thundley4]

Interrogations were carefully limited, briefed on Capitol Hill, and yielded information that saved innocent lives.

Whoever advised people to be skeptical of what they read in the papers must have had in mind this week's coverage of the documents about CIA interrogations. Now that we've had a chance to read the reports, it's clear the real story isn't the few cases of abuse played up by the media. The news is that the program was thoughtfully developed, carefully circumscribed, briefed to Congress, and yielded information crucial to disrupting al Qaeda.

In other words, it worked—at least until politics got in the way.

That's the essential judgment offered by former CIA Inspector General John Helgerson in his 2004 report. Some mild criticism aside, the report says the CIA "invested immense time and effort to implement the [program] quickly, effectively, and within the law"; that the agency "generally provided good guidance and support"; and that agency personnel largely "followed guidance and procedures and documented their activities well." So where's the scandal?

*snip*
Congress also knew about it. The IG report belies House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's claims that she wasn't told about all this. "In the fall of 2002, the Agency briefed the leadership of the Congressional Intelligence Oversight Committees on the use of both standard techniques and EITs. . . . Representatives . . . continued to brief the leadership of the Intelligence Oversight Committees on the use of EITs and detentions in February and March 2003. The [CIA] General Counsel says that none of the participants expressed any concern about the techniques or the Program . . ." Ditto in September 2003.

As for examples of "unauthorized techniques," the IG explains that the most "significant"—an accusation that an interrogator threatened a detainee with a gun and a power drill—was the subject of a separate investigation. As for the rest—"the making of threats, blowing cigar smoke, employing certain stress positions, the use of a stiff brush on a detainee, and stepping on a detainee's ankle shackles"—the IG report says the "allegations were disputed or too ambiguous to reach any authoritative determination" and "did not warrant separate investigations or administrative actions."

  WSJ

Why do the DimRats hate America, and seek to punish those that defend her?

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

  WSJ

Why do the DimRats hate America, and seek to punish those that defend her?

Raw power, nothing more, nothing less.

They have no problem with these methods all they are concerned with are hyperpartisan accumulation of power cuz they're smarterer than us and its not fair we shun them.

This is nothing more than a sad effort to diminish the GOP at the expense of American lives. But hey! They deserve their power...you don't.

[5412]

Raw power, nothing more, nothing less.

They have no problem with these methods all they are concerned with are hyperpartisan accumulation of power cuz they're smarterer than us and its not fair we shun them.

This is nothing more than a sad effort to diminish the GOP at the expense of American lives. But hey! They deserve their power...you don't.

HI,

I think it goes well beyond what you mentioned.  Beck opened my eyes when he said that the democrat party is now full of revolutionaries, radicals, extremists who do not believe in the constitution, their primary goal is to destroy this country as we know it.  They know full well it will hurt the CIA and their ability to gather information.  That is their goal.  The thing I find amazing is how many democrats are yet to figure it out.

regards,
5412

[DumbAss Tanker]

Raw power, nothing more, nothing less.

They have no problem with these methods all they are concerned with are hyperpartisan accumulation of power cuz they're smarterer than us and its not fair we shun them.

This is nothing more than a sad effort to diminish the GOP at the expense of American lives. But hey! They deserve their power...you don't.

A disturbing parallel to the declining days of the Roman republic, really, when the Senate and Forum became obsessed with internal political intrigue to the detriment of the nation, ending with the people welcoming Caesar just to put an end to the bullshit.

[AllosaursRus]

A disturbing parallel to the declining days of the Roman republic, really, when the Senate and Forum became obsessed with internal political intrigue to the detriment of the nation, ending with the people welcoming Caesar just to put an end to the bullshit.

Seems to me Bam Bam is as close to Ceasar as this country has seen since it's inception! This mo fo thinks he can get away with murder!

[Thor]

Seems to me Bam Bam is as close to Ceasar as this country has seen since it's inception! This mo fo thinks  KNOWS he can get away with murder!

FIFY

[DumbAss Tanker]

Seems to me Bam Bam is as close to Ceasar as this country has seen since it's inception! This mo fo thinks he can get away with murder!

I see it differently, with him, Reid, and Pelosi more as the crowning cow-flops on the pile of BS that would make a dictator a welcome change to many, but since as you'll recall things didn't end all that well for Julius, no matter how you read it we could be in the crapper.

[AllosaursRus]

I see it differently, with him, Reid, and Pelosi more as the crowning cow-flops on the pile of BS that would make a dictator a welcome change to many, but since as you'll recall things didn't end all that well for Julius, no matter how you read it we could be in the crapper.

Ain't that the truth! No matter what we do right now, I doubt we will be able to "undo" everything Obummer has brought about!

[BlueStateSaint]

Ain't that the truth! No matter what we do right now, I doubt we will be able to "undo" everything Obummer has brought about!

I think it can be undone, and it will happen in surprisingly swift fashion.  The one thing that Obama has going for him are the hard-core lefties (maybe 15%-20% of the voting popluace).  The moderates won the election for him.  Now, we go forward to a year later, when the moderates are saying, What the deuce was I thinking???  And they will pull levers for the Republican candidates.  I've talked to a couple of "moderates" where I work that have bemoaned what Obama has pushed, but who voted for him--and I've rather rudely reminded them, "Hey--you voted for him!"  A few have gotten pissed at me, and a few others have told me, "You're right.  I didn't know what I was thinking.  I'm voting straight Republican in 2010."

November 2nd, 2010 will be a rude awakening for them.

But, some of them seem willing to push Marxism off into the future--after they "win" the 2012 elections . . .

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=7308622C-18FE-70B2-A8249CF156137AF8

This is the interesting paragraph--nine paragraphs in:

Clyburn, for his part, is advocating a “two step” approach in which the most widely supported health insurance reforms, like coverage for pre-existing conditions, go into effect immediately, while the public option is framed as a distant step — something that would go into effect in 2013, only after benchmarks and pilot programs are studied.

Sounds like they know they're toast.

[DixieBelle]

^excellent observations. I completely agree and it's my goal to wake up as many "moderates" as I can. Thankfully, they are starting to come around on their own. I pray that the mid-terms are the next step in the right direction.