The Senate CIA Report and Democratic Treachery

Posted By Arnold Ahlert On December 10, 2014 @ 12:55 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 6 Comments

On Tuesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee released the 500-page executive summary of the report on the CIA’s enhanced interrogation of terrorist detainees. Democrats, the media and Republican Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) are using it as an opportunity to hammer the CIA and the Bush administration, while American embassies, military units and other U.S. interests are preparing for possible reprisals. But adding further threats to Americans already in harm’s way matters not. Beleaguered congressional Democrats are desperate for a political boon and have turned to an old standby: sabotaging national security and sacrificing American lives.

Since their betrayal of the Iraq war, Democrats, particularly in the Senate, have panned the techniques used by the CIA to garner critical information in the days following 9/11 as “torture,” and have claimed that they yielded no useful intel. Though the use of these techniques was long known to Democrats — with virtual indifference toward them at the outset — many Democrats have since claimed they were unaware of what was occurring, which explains their lack of opposition to their government supposedly engaging in “torture.”

Leading the way on the latter fabrication was then-House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Her ongoing denials regarding knowledge of the CIA’s waterboarding of terrorists were ultimately undone by Pelosi herself in 2009, when she finally admitted she had known about the program since 2003. Yet even as she admitted it, she continued to promote the “Bush lied, people died” lie, insisting that “the C.I.A. was misleading the Congress and at the same time the administration was misleading the Congress on weapons of mass destruction.”

Those would be the same weapons of mass destruction whose existence was acknowledged by the New York Times last October.

As for so-called torture, the report cited sleep deprivation, threatening subjects with death, “rectal feeding” or “rectal hydration” described by the CIA’s chief of interrogations as a way to exert “total control over detainees,” and waterboarding, as in simulating near drowning. The report further stated that former CIA directors George J. Tenet, Porter J. Goss and Michael V. Hayden hyped the value of those techniques in secret briefings with the White House and Congress.

Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein admitted that she “could understand the C.I.A.’s impulse to consider the use of every possible tool to gather intelligence and remove terrorists from the battlefield, and the C.I.A. was encouraged by political leaders and the public to do whatever it could to prevent another attack,” but that “such pressure, fear and expectation of further terrorist plots do not justify, temper or excuse improper actions taken by individuals or organizations in the name of national security. The major lesson of this report is that regardless of the pressures and the need to act, the intelligence community’s actions must always reflect who we are as a nation, and adhere to our laws and standards.”

The hypocrisy is breathtaking. While the Left wrings its collective hands about “torture,” they remain silent to Barack Obama’s drone program. One that has not only killed terrorists, but America citizens, Samir Khan, and Anwar al-Awlaki. Both men were traitors, but they were executed without the due process the Left supposedly reveres so much in the case of terrorist detainees. So was Awlaki’s 16-year-old son, as well as innocents who were victims of collateral damage. No one was reported to have been killed by the Bush administration’s enhanced interrogation techniques, yet somehow Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney are routinely referred to as “war criminals” while Obama largely gets a pass.

The Washington Post’s Bill Gerson cuts right through the double-standard, noting intelligence personnel now being excoriated received the same “direction and protection,” consisting of presidential approval, congressional briefing, lawfulness determined by the U.S. Attorney General and target value determined by the CIA Director as those currently participating in the drone program. “Some may argue a subtle moral distinction between harshly interrogating a terrorist and blowing his limbs apart,” Gerson writes. “But international human rights groups and legal authorities generally look down on both. The main difference? One is Obama’s favorite program. A few years from now, a new president and new congressional leaders may take a different view.”

This double standard puts the lie to Democrats’ seriousness toward the claim that the Bush administration engaged in “torture,” illegality and human rights abuses in its mission to thwart terrorist attacks against the homeland. In truth, the campaign against tough interrogation is a political cudgel that Democrats have employed to bludgeon their political enemies, no matter the national security cost. It amounts to nothing less than a revisionist effort to turn those entrusted with protecting the country in the immediate aftermath of the worst domestic attack in American history into pariahs, even as the war remains ongoing. As Gerson so rightly notes, the report’s release is an act of “exceptional congressional recklessness” engineered by Feinstein, whose “legacy is a massive dump of intelligence details useful to the enemy in a time of war.”

Our allies are equally appalled. ”Foreign leaders have approached the government and said, ‘You do this, this will cause violence and deaths,”’ warned Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. “Our own intelligence community has assessed that this will cause violence and deaths.”

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest acknowledged such concerns, but insisted the administration “strongly supports the release of this declassified summary of the report.”

No doubt. The release neatly coincided with ObamaCare mega-consultant Jonathan Gruber’s Congressional testimony regarding his contempt for the American public, and the deception employed to get the ACA passed. Thus, the administration has once again employed a bait and switch effort to distract the public, despite the fact that distraction imperils Americans and our allies.

CIA veteran Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., who ran the enhanced interrogation program, destroys the contention that Democrats were out of the loop, and that the enhanced interrogation techniques yielded no useful information. “The leaders of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees and of both parties in Congress were briefed on the program more than 40 times between 2002 and 2009,” he reveals, noting those same lawmakers “urged us to do everything possible to prevent another attack on our soil.” He was equally forthright about the intel that was garnered. “After extraordinary CIA efforts, aided by information obtained through the enhanced-interrogation program, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed architect of the 9/11 attacks, was captured in Pakistan,” he explains.

He is especially critical of “hypocritical” Democrats. He cites Feinstein’s 2002 assertion that “we have to do some things that historically we have not wanted to do to protect ourselves,” as well as an interview between CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WVA), then the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. In response to Blitzer’s question about whether Khalid Sheik Mohammed might be turned over to friendly countries with no restrictions on torture, the Senator admitted it was possible. “I wouldn’t take anything off the table where he is concerned, because this is the man who has killed hundreds and hundreds of Americans over the last 10 years,” he replied.

Rodriguez then adds a dose of devastating perspective to the mix. “If Feinstein, Rockefeller and other politicians were saying such things in print and on national TV, imagine what they were saying to us in private….Our reward, a decade later, is to hear some of these same politicians expressing outrage for what was done and, even worse, mischaracterizing the actions taken and understating the successes achieved,” he states.

Current and former CIA leaders bitterly contested the report. Bush-era CIA Director George Tenet labeled it “biased, inaccurate, and destructive,” adding that it “does damage to U.S. national security, to the men and women of the Central Intelligence Agency, and most of all to the truth.” CIA Director John Brennan said the agency made mistakes, but insisted “the record does not support the study’s inference that the agency systematically and intentionally misled each of these audiences on the effectiveness of the program.” A website launched by a number of intelligence officials blasted the report:

The recently released Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) Majority report on the CIA’s Rendition, Detention, and Interrogation Program is marred by errors of facts and interpretation and is completely at odds with the reality that the leaders and officers of the Central Intelligence Agency lived through. It represents the single worst example of Congressional oversight in our many years of government service.

Cheney also remains resolute about the necessity and legality of the program. “What I keep hearing out there is they portray this as a rogue operation, and the agency was way out of bounds and then they lied about it,” he said in a telephone interview with the New York Times. “I think that’s all a bunch of hooey. The program was authorized. The agency did not want to proceed without authorization, and it was also reviewed legally by the Justice Department before they undertook the program.” Cheney also had nothing but praise for those who participated. “As far as I’m concerned, they ought to be decorated, not criticized,” he added.

The alternative viewpoint? “Showing respect even for ones enemies. Trying to understand and in so far as psychologically possible, empathize with their perspective and point of view,” said Secretary of State and likely presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Americans have a choice to make between competing worldviews. The wrong choice will have deadly consequences.

The calculating Sen Feinstein endangered Americans----she used the torture report as a slapdown---as a weapon to save her Dumbocrat ***.........to stop the CIA's investigation of her dirty arms-related deals.

Back in Sept 2014, intel head Di/Fi was whining about the CIA looking through her computers and taking documents. Clearly, the CIA had plenty on her----even BEFORE the shocking Chi/Com missile scandal broke.

BACKSTORY: Di/Fi's known aversion to guns did not prevent her from honoring Cali's Raymond Chow---the key figure in Demorat state Sen Leland Yee's, shocking missile deal w/ China (Yee is a notorious gun-grabber stateside).

INCONVENIENT FACTOIDS:

<><>Feinstein heads the Senate Intel Committee;

<><> Her hubby Richard Blum made million as the lawyer for Chinese interests;

<><> gun-grabber Leland Yee knew where to get missiles, launchers, machine-guns etc;

<><> Raymond Chow was jailed, then freed when he professed to be a “really nice guy”.... honored by Di/Fi for working with local Chinese youths.

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EVERYBODY KNOWS THE DI/FI STORY COULD DWARF YEE'S ARMS DEAL: Taxpayers demand and investigation of Di/Fi's intel activities. <><> Did Di use her access to valuable US security data improperly? <><> Hubby Richard Blum made millions in China deals in past years. How'd he do that? <><> Is hubby cutting new deals w/ the Chi/Coms?

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ARE THE CLINTONS INVOLVED?----THIS DI/FI HILLARY SUCK-UP WAS VERY INSTRUCTIVE---DI even dropped the term "foreign policy" “In my view, she’s in the prime of her political life. She’s got the energy. She’s articulate. She’s got the background. She’s got the smarts. She has all of the elements of a good leader plus the fact, and this is not to be underestimated, she is enormously attractive to people,” she said on CNN's "State of the Union." “And she carries the torch for women who are the majority of votes in this country, very strongly and very high.”

Hillary's hefty income includes:

Hualuo CEO Forum (Spouse) Shanghai, China $550,000

Telefonaktiebolagel LM Ericsson AB (Spouse) Hong Kong, China $750,000

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WHAT DO DI/FI, HER HUBBY, HARRY REID, YEE, LEE AND CHOW KNOW ABOUT THIS?

Then-Pres Clinton inevitably pursued his own political advantage at the expense of American interests and national security.

Here's just one of the endless examples: the Clintons cupidity is well-documented---shows Clinton and the Democrats took illegal campaign money from groups and individuals tied directly to the Chinese People’s Republican Army. It is therefore not surprising that In January 1998 Clinton went against the advice of then-Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Pentagon experts by lifting long-standing restrictions against the export of American satellites to China for launch on Chinese rockets.

Not only did then-pres Clinton move control over such decisions from the more security-focused State Department to the Commerce Department, but he intervened in a Justice Department investigation of Loral Space & Communications, retroactively enabling Loral to sell critical missile technology to the Chinese.

Interestingly enough, Clinton’s decision was made at the request of Loral CEO Bernard Schwartz, whose earlier $1.3 million campaign donation made him the single biggest contributor to the Democratic election effort.

The result? Democrats got money from satellite companies and from Chinese communists; China got supercomputors, advanced production equipment and missile technology; Loral got its satellites launched at bargain basement prices . . . and the transfer of sensitive missile technology gave China [for the first time] the capability of depositing bombs on American cities.

Incidentally, Loral ultimately failed to benefit from this permanent injury to America’s security interests: in July 2003, the company filed for bankruptcy protection, and in order to raise cash was forced to sell its most profitable business – a fleet of communications satellites orbiting over North America.

(more below)

WAKE UP-CALL The Clintons have received zillions from the Chi/Coms---we all assumed it was going to their three tax-exempt foundations. Now here's another angle (think money-laundering, and kickbacks).

The Harry Reid connection to the tax-exempt "Clinton Global Initiative" foundation needs to be investigated.

PUT ON YOUR TINFOIL HATS TO CONNECT THE DOTS:

(1) Harry Reid's son Rory is in business w/ the Chi/Coms on a multi-billion dollar solar energy project; Cliven Bundy and his land are standing in the way.

(2) Reports say Bill Clinton recently went to China to panhandle for his tax-exempt "Clinton Global Initiative" foundation.

(3) The "Clinton Global Initiative" (NOT KNOWN for giving out grants)---gave Harry Reid's granddaughter a grant for a Brooklyn, NY theatre she runs (what is a Brooklyn theatre's connection to "global initiatives?")

(4) A Nevada energy company also gave Reid's granddaughter's theatre group a grant.

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"Money laundering" comes to mind. Could the Chinese be financing the Reid's solar project through donations to theClinton Foundations....which is then laundered to Reid's granddaughter?

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REFERENCE----HARRY REID IS LIVID THAT HIS GRAND-DAUGHTER HAS BEEN OUTED AS A RECIPIENT OF LAUNDERED CAMPAIGN CASH---Reid lashed out at reporters, saying, “My granddaughter has been the target of harassing phone calls, strangers tracking her down, knocking on her door and negative, unwanted attention on the Internet.” “This has gone too far and it needs to stop now,” Reid said. “I deeply regret any role I had in creating this situation but now, as a grandparent, I say enough is enough.”

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Besides the "jewelry company" financed by her grandfather, Ryan Elisabeth Reid runs the Sprat Theater Company, a small theater in Brooklyn, which is also coming under scrutiny. According to Sprat’s Theatre Company Web site, it has received grants/contributions from:

<><> the Clinton Global Initiative (connected to global terrorism via Muslim Brotherhood employee),
<><> two major Las Vegas foundations:
Caesar’s Foundation, and the NV Energy Foundation.

NOTE NV Energy Foundation---is a non-profit division of NV Energy (a public utility). The NV Energy utility is a subsidiary of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company which took over in 2013....and is now owned by a Warren Buffet unit.

Harry w/ grand-daughter Ryan Elizabeth Reid.

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