The 2011 Congressional Agenda

The American Thinker ^ | January 01, 2011 | Elise Cooper

[Scanian]

The year 2011 is noteworthy since it will be the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It is also a year when the Republicans will gain control of the House and have a strong say in the Senate. American Thinker interviewed some influential Congressmen and former CIA officials to gain insight on what can be expected in 2011.

Mike Rogers (R-MI), the newly appointed Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, wants to challenge and review the status quo presented by the Obama Administration by asking the hard questions through public and closed door hearings. He is going to make sure this Administration talks "about the issues. There has been no oversight of this Administration over the last two years."

One of the important issues that must be addressed is whether the terrorists should be dealt with through law enforcement or from an intelligence based approach. Rogers, who was a former FBI agent and served on the Intelligence Committee since 2003, felt that "telling terrorists who are not American citizens they have the right to remain silent is not the way to gain information. We should have never taken the way we collect information off the table."

Michael Hayden, the former CIA Director concurs and believes that interrogating terrorists should be about "the prevention of the next attack. We are not doing this for the purpose of prosecution but are doing it for the purpose of gaining information. If we place intelligence in a law enforcement model it will feel like September 10th, an attitude we adopt at our own peril."

American Thinker asked Rogers if he thought that there was a differentiation between the Department of Defense and the CIA's assessment of the Afghanistan policy, a review released earlier in December. According to Rogers...