Posted on 12/18/2014 6:56:50 AM PST by Kaslin
Last week the papers were overflowing with stories about a Senate committee's report on the Central Intelligence Agency's use of torture to extract information from terrorists -- known or just suspected terrorists.
Those stories were shortly followed by others reporting the responses of CIA types and other knowledgeable sources critical of the Senate committee's report. Plus a few words from unhelpful types like Dick Cheney, our former vice president who is still playing word games, and John Yoo, who wrote the notorious Torture Memo(s), and is still defending their torturous language. Torture? That ain't torture, to hear Messrs. Cheney and Yoo tell it, but only "enhanced interrogation." With supporters like these, the CIA needs no further embarrassments.
In the end, as the dust settles and the public's fickle attention span moves on, it becomes clearer that last week's Big News wasn't really news at all. The bipartisan Constitution Project's fair and thorough examination of the same subject, released last year, ran 602 pages and went over the same ground and more. That investigation was co-chaired by the judicious Asa Hutchinson, who was a congressman then and is now the governor-elect of Arkansas. Agree or disagree with the Constitution Project's conclusions, its authors interviewed witnesses on all sides of the issue, unlike those who wrote the Senate committee's report.
By this week, the big story in the news was the latest hostage-taking, this time in Australia. Now that's torture -- and real news. Faux news, like this one-sided report out of a Senate committee, doesn't stay news long.
The best response to the Senate committee's partisan report (the Republican members of the committee wouldn't have anything to do with it) came from the CIA's current director, John Brennan, who admitted, to use a phrase Ronald Reagan did during the Iran-Contra snafu, that mistakes were made. But the CIA's director also pointed out that the CIA "did a lot of things right" -- like preventing another terrorist attack on the scale of 9/11.
Director Brennan noted that there were "no easy answers" to the terrorist threat back in 2001 when Americans were thrown into a state of confusion, not to say panic, by the most dramatic sneak attack on American territory since Pearl Harbor, and the whole country was declared a no-fly zone. Remember? It is hard now to re-create the atmosphere of those fearful days -- not that this report out of the Senate committee's all too partisan "investigators" even tried to do that. Their approach was to judge first, look at the cherry-picked evidence later. Result: The committee's accusations against the CIA were not only partial and partisan and predetermined, but context-free. Which is no way to write history, or to judge it.
The second best response to the Senate committee's report came from Bob Kerry, who's still worth listening to. You may remember him: war hero of the Vietnam era (Navy SEALs, Medal of Honor), former Democratic governor and U.S. senator from Nebraska, not to mention presidential contender and university administrator (the New School in New York City). To quote Bob Kerry: "I do not need to read the report to know that the Democratic staff alone wrote it." For the Republicans on the committee "determined that their counterparts started out with the premise that the CIA was guilty and then worked to prove it."
The purpose of a real congressional investigation, as Mr. Kerry pointed out in a piece for USA Today, is "to stand above the fray and render balanced judgments," but the Senate committee "departed from that high road."
The committee's staff didn't even bother to interview those in the CIA they were smearing. Even a rookie reporter would have known better than that, and tried to get both sides of the story. Not these partisans. Their excuse? Some CIA agents were under investigation and unavailable. Bob Kerry wasn't buying it. He knows that the officials that the CIA report accuses of misconduct are not being investigated, or if they were at one time, were cleared by 2012 -- two years ago. Not even Eric Holder's fast-and-furious Justice Department, which investigated their conduct, could find any illegal activity on their part. Nor did the committee's Democratic staffers bother to recommend any changes in the future, which is supposed to be the purpose of having congressional investigations.
The most guilty party in this whole fiasco misnamed an investigation is the Senate committee's chairwoman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who was kept informed of what the CIA was doing to combat terrorism, approved it at the time, and either knew or should have known about whatever tactics the CIA was using to do its job. But her idea of oversight turns out to be second-guessing. After serving as a generally competent and even vigorous head of her committee, she now joins those sandbagging the CIA's agents. Et tu, senator? The one thing clear in this cloudy controversy over how our snoops, spies and other undercover types at the CIA conducted themselves in the wake of September 11th
is that they prevented another one. At least so far. Their reward? They get badmouthed by a bunch of partisans on a Senate committee staff. A medal would be more fitting, but it's one of the rules of politics and life: No good deeds go unpunished.
Even if the CIA did resort to torture to get information from some suspects -- and there's no doubt it did -- did it work? Was torture effective? Did it yield any information that couldn't have been obtained by other, less questionable methods? The answer to those questions is: We don't know and can't know. For in seeking answers to such questions, we leave the realm of fact and enter the world of speculation. Or as CIA Director Brennan put it, all of that is "unknown and unknowable."
But this much is known or should be: Even if torture were an effective way to obtain intelligence, it should never be codified in the laws of a country that calls itself civilized. To propound legal rationales for torture demeans a virtuous society, or any society that aspires to be. This debate isn't about just a nation's policies, but its soul.
The low point in the last administration's conduct of this continuing war on terror had to be when its hapless attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, approved that infamous Torture Memo specifying just how much cruel and unusual punishment could be inflicted on a suspect to make him talk. But always call it "enhanced interrogation." The use of such euphemisms was a sure tip-off that something shameful was being done in our name, that of We the People, for words are telling -- especially those that are transparent attempts to avoid telling the truth.
But what if a CIA operative believes that another terrorist attack is imminent -- as a lot of Americans feared and even expected in the immediate wake of 9/11 -- and using torture is the only way to prevent it? Even if that were true, torture should never be codified, and made a legal precedent for more torture. The road to Hell is paved not just with good intentions but bad laws.
If a CIA agent is really convinced that an evil act is the only way to avoid a greater evil, then he must follow his conscience, just as any conscientious objector does, and be prepared to take the consequences -- whether that means punishment or praise or both in turn. But the law should not be made an accessory to its own violation. Torture is no part of American law, tradition and certainly not American values. Nor should it ever be -- officially, unofficially or by any other name like "enhanced interrogation." Torture is torture is torture
The left was all excited over the stories of “torture” because the bastards had just lost two houses of congress. They needed to get back at the normal people.
Nails it.
DUMBOCRATS' LAST HURRAH----WALKING WOUNDED AFTER MIDTERM DEFEAT---The calculating Sen Feinstein cherry-picked the CIA terror report. She 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? /////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.
There is NO substance in any Liberal position...soooooooooooooo when something comes up which hinges on emotion and the completely subjective, of course they hyperventilate
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