Editorial: Obama's havoc to the intel system - President establishes intelligence death panels

The Washington Times ^ | January 11, 2010 | The Editors

[2ndDivisionVet]

President Obama blamed "the system" for failing to stop al Qaeda's Christmas Day bombing plot. The weakness with that excuse is that Mr. Obama fails to connect the dots between the systemic failure and his administration's year-long record of destroying the morale of the intelligence community.

The intelligence process works in large part because of trust. A reliable sense of confidence must exist between superiors and subordinates, agents and sources, and the intelligence community and policy makers. Without trust, people will not take the risks needed to do their jobs successfully.

Mr. Obama has destroyed this sense of trust. On his watch, the intelligence community has suffered a year of body blows. He made great theater of signing an executive order closing the terrorist detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In April, the president authorized the release of the so-called "torture memos" on enhanced interrogation techniques used against detainees, and suggested that Congress establish a bipartisan review panel to look into the authorization of extraordinary interrogation methods.

Mr. Obama said, "for those who carried out ... these operations within the four corners of legal opinions or guidance ... provided from the White House, I do not think it's appropriate for them to be prosecuted." He then authorized Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to begin an investigation, even though career prosecutors at the Justice Department already had examined the circumstances and found no CIA violations of law.

Disputes arose with Congress over the extent to which members had been briefed on the enhanced interrogation program, in particular what Speaker Nancy Pelosi knew and when she knew it.(continued)

[hinckley buzzard]

Where are all the damaging leaks coming out of the CIA?

Patience. Election season has just opened.

[rdb3]

...wrapped inside a Muslim wrapped inside a Marxist wrapped inside a scrawny metrosexual wrapped inside a cretin.

You nailed it!

Obama is a cynic wrapped in a hypocrite inside a bully.

[Jabba the Nutt]

The CIA didn’t wait for elections to leak to undermine Bush. It’s been 8 months and so far, no leaks. The CIA is a left wing organization, see Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame. They’re typical. I don’t believe they’re going to leak on Obama. So far, I’m right.