The Magnificent Seven riding herd on Panetta

Ex-CIA directors urge Obama to drop abuse probe

AFP

WASHINGTON — Seven former CIA directors have called on US President Barack Obama to end a probe into claims the agency abused terror suspects, warning it will cause “serious damage” to intelligence operations.

The former intelligence chiefs, appointed by both Democrat and Republican presidents, in a letter to Obama called on him to end the Justice Department inquiry, warning it would make agents more reticent to act for fear of prosecution.

“This approach will seriously damage the willingness of many other intelligence officers to take risks to protect the country,” the group stated.

Warning of “endless criminal investigations,” the seven said allegations of detainee abuse had already been probed, with the supervision of federal prosecutors.

“Attorney General (Eric) Holder’s decision to re-open the criminal investigation creates an atmosphere of continuous jeopardy for those whose cases the Department of Justice had previously declined to prosecute,” the letter read.

The signatories warned that the investigation could jeopardize relations with other nations that had co-operated with investigations, on the proviso of secrecy.

Though not a signatory to the letter, current CIA Director Leon Panetta also opposed Holder’s investigation.

“I think the reason I felt the way I did is because I don’t believe there’s a basis there for any kind of additional action,” Panetta said.

“My concern is … that we don’t get trapped by the past. My feeling is ultimately, we’re going to be able to move on,” he told reporters this week after a speech in Michigan.

Is Leon Panetta up to the job?

I think not!

…………zzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

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Lou Dobbs missing 911 Lies Video

Thanks to vdoevidence911 on Youtube this video is still around. He posted it on Sept 13, 2006. The original CNN video was from August 9, 2006, about the time that Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton came out with their book Without Precedent and was later posted on Youtube. Lou Dobbs quoted this book in his video. I posted the video on my blog on August 12, 2006, but the video was promptly removed from Youtube. I found a transcript on CNN, so copied it and posted it on August 16, 2006 along with a link to it.

Anyways, thanks to vdoevidence911 on Youtube the video has been on there since September 2006, but under another name. Googling “Lou Dobbs Wakes Up to 9/11 Lies” there are 25 articles or so with the same dead video on them, so I guess i wasn’t alone in not being able to find it.

Update: metacafe has posted the video

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Obama to reverse Bu$hco’s emphasis on covert CIA actions

FBI planning a bigger role in terrorism fight

Bureau agents will gather evidence to ensure that criminal prosecutions of alleged terrorists are an option. The move is a reversal of the Bush administration’s emphasis on covert CIA actions.

Los Angeles Times

By Josh Meyer
May 28, 2009

Reporting from Washington — The FBI and Justice Department plan to significantly expand their role in global counter-terrorism operations, part of a U.S. policy shift that will replace a CIA-dominated system of clandestine detentions and interrogations with one built around transparent investigations and prosecutions.

Under the “global justice” initiative, which has been in the works for several months, FBI agents will have a central role in overseas counter-terrorism cases. They will expand their questioning of suspects and evidence-gathering to try to ensure that criminal prosecutions are an option, officials familiar with the effort said.

Though the initiative is a work in progress, some senior counter-terrorism officials and administration policy-makers envision it as key to the national security strategy President Obama laid out last week — one that presumes most accused terrorists have the right to contest the charges against them in a “legitimate” setting.

The approach effectively reverses a mainstay of the Bush administration’s war on terrorism, in which global counter-terrorism was treated primarily as an intelligence and military problem, not a law enforcement one. That policy led to the establishment of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; harsh interrogations; and detentions without trials.

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Ray McGovern on Torture, Warren Rudman, & Dick Cheney

Torture? Rudman to the Rescue

By Ray McGovern
May 6, 2009

The announcement in mid-March that CIA Director Leon Panetta had picked former Sen. Warren Rudman to act as CIA “liaison” with the Senate Intelligence Committee during its “review” of interrogation and detention practices has drawn virtually no criticism from the Fawning Corporate Media (FCM).

Yet, it is a dead give-away as to how congressional leaders plan to go through the motions for a year or so, and then let everyone off the hook.

More

In the months leading up to 911

Warren B. Rudman was involved in the defense of Papa Bush in concert with Darth Cheney on the Iran Contra affair in the 1980’s, and we now see him resurrected to defend Cheney on the torture issue. Rudman is now 78 years of age, but has the necessary ties with the Corporate Government to make him a faithful allay to Bu$hco.

Rudman retired, as co-chair, from Raytheon on May 8, 2006.

The U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century (USCNS/21)

AKA: the Hart-Rudman Commission or Hart-Rudman Task Force on Homeland Security, was chartered by Secretary of Defense William Cohen in 1998 to provide a comprehensive review of US national security requirements in the 21st century. USCNS/21 was tasked “to analyze the emerging international security environment; to develop a US national security strategy appropriate to that environment; and to assess the various security institutions for their current relevance to the effective and efficient implementation of that strategy, and to recommend adjustments as necessary”.

Released on 31 January 2001, USCNS/21 is the most exhaustive review of US national security strategy since the National Security Act of 1947. USCNS/21 was released in three distinct phases. The first phase, New World Coming: American Security in the 21st Century, anticipates the emerging international security environment within the first quarter of the 21st century and examines how the US fits into that environment. The second phase, Seeking a National Strategy: A Concert for Preserving Security and Promoting Freedom, proposes a new US national security strategy based on the anticipated threats and conditions outlined in the first phase report. The third phase, Roadmap for National Security: Imperative for Change, recommends changes to the US government’s structure, legislation, and policy to reflect a new national security strategy based on the anticipated 21st century international security environment.

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Twelve Destroyed CIA Tapes Showed Torture Techniques

Some Destroyed CIA Tapes Showed “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques”

TPM Muckraker- By Zachary Roth – March 6, 2009, 6:24PM

In new court documents filed today, the Justice Department acknowledged that twelve of the destroyed CIA interrogation tapes depict “enhanced interrogation techniques” — what most people call torture — the ACLU announced in a press release.

The government also said it would provide a list of summaries, transcripts, and memoranda related to the destroyed tapes, though the ACLU noted that a previous list was almost entirely redacted.

The CIA admitted earlier this week that it had destroyed 92 interrogation tapes. The destruction was ordered by then operations chief Jose Rodriguez.

In an earlier Freedom of Information Act request, the ACLU asked for information on the treatment and interrogation of detainees in U.S. custody. It filed a motion in December 2007 to hold the CIA in contempt for its destruction of the tapes, which it argued violated a court order requiring the agency to produce or identify all the records it was asking for.

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