Rewriting History When It Comes To Past Comments On Torture

'Zero Dark Thirty' Account of Torture Verified by Media Record of Legislators and CIA Officials -- G. Roger Denson, Huffington Post

In the weeks preceeding the release of the much lauded film Zero Dark Thirty--of which everyone by now knows is about one CIA agent's single-minded mission to find Osama bin Laden--something remarkable happened. The CIA, the Senate Intelligence Committee, and a coterie of human rights journalists, activists, and artists, seemed at least in print and in picture to compose a united front against the makers of the film. Their common aim was to impress on the public that the film propagated false information regarding the efficacy of waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" (a euphemism for torture) in general, and specifically in coercing information from prisoners on the whereabouts of bin Laden.

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My Comment: This is a long but detailed post on how the U.S. government's narrative on torture has changed over the years .... but specifically in the past year. Why this change in narrative .... is it to impress a constituency on the left .... to feel good about oneself .... to validate another course of action (i.e. targeted drone strikes) .... your guess is as good as mine.

A Case For Using Enhanced Interrogation Techniques -- A Commentary

The Waterboarding Trail To Bin Laden -- Michael B. Mukasey, Wall Street Journal

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said that as late as 2006 fully half of the government's knowledge about the structure and activities of al Qaeda came from harsh interrogations.

Osama bin Laden was killed by Americans, based on intelligence developed by Americans. That should bring great satisfaction to our citizens and elicit praise for our intelligence community. Seized along with bin Laden's corpse was a trove of documents and electronic devices that should yield intelligence that could help us capture or kill other terrorists and further degrade the capabilities of those who remain at large.

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My Comment: This administration is not going to change its policies towards waterboarding or any other enhanced interrogation techniques. What will change it will be another 9/11 .... or a change in administrations.

Will President Obama Apologize To CIA Interrogators?

Obama Owes Thanks, And An Apology, To CIA Interrogators -- Marc A. Thiessen, Washington Post

In normal times, the officials who uncovered the intelligence that led us to Osama bin Laden would get a medal. In the Obama administration, they have been given subpoenas.

On his second day in office, Obama shut down the CIA’s high-value interrogation program. His Justice Department then reopened criminal investigations into the conduct of CIA interrogators — inquiries that had been closed years before by career prosecutors who concluded that there were no crimes to prosecute. In a speech at the National Archives, Obama eviscerated the men and women of the CIA, accusing them of “torture” and declaring that their work “did not advance our war and counterterrorism efforts — they undermined them.”

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My Comment: Long time readers of this blog know that I have been a critic of this administrations policies and actions against CIA officials who in the Bush administration sanctioned the use of enhanced interrogation techniques in obtaining information from Al Qaeda suspects. Some regular readers of this blog have criticized me on this viewpoint, and while I agree to disagree, I do believe that now is the time to have an independent investigation and analysis on the effectiveness of CIA enhanced interrogation techniques, and the role that it played in catching Osama Bin laden.

Will such an independent investigation and analysis be done .... after this weekend's events I can say with 99% confidence that the conclusions from such an investigation will contradict the stated position from this White House .... a position that I am sure the White House does not want to face. The fact that this administration is reluctant to further pursue this matter is vindication to me that they also know what the results of such an investigation will be, and want this issue to die right now.

My prediction .... by next week .... the issue of the CIA using (or not using) enhanced interrogation techniques will be swept under the rug and forgotten by all with the exception of a few bloggers .... including this one.

Congress’s Torture Bubble -- An Editorial

Civil rights protesters demonstrate waterboarding techniques. Photo from Daily Mail

From the New York Times:

JUST four members of Congress were notified in 2002 when the Central Intelligence Agency’s “enhanced interrogation techniques” program was first approved and carried out, according to documents released by the agency last week. They were Senators Bob Graham and Richard Shelby and Representatives Porter Goss and Nancy Pelosi, then the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House intelligence committees — the so-called “Gang of Four.” Each was briefed orally and it was understood that they were not to speak about the program with anyone, including their colleagues on the committees.

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What Congress Knew -- A Commentary

Photo: AP

From The Wall Street Journal:

On September 4, 2002, Porter Goss, then the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Nancy Pelosi, the ranking Democratic member, were given a classified briefing by the CIA on what the Agency calls "enhanced interrogation techniques," or, in persistent media parlance, "torture." In particular, the CIA briefed the members on the use of these techniques on Abu Zubaydah, a high-ranking al Qaeda operative captured in Pakistan the previous March.

Abu Zubaydah was a name the future Speaker was already familiar with. That spring, information obtained from the terrorist had the FBI and other government agencies scrambling to prevent possible attacks on the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge. It wasn't clear whether Abu Zubaydah was being truthful. "He is also very skilled at avoiding interrogation," Ms. Pelosi was quoted in Time magazine. "He is an agent of disinformation." It is precisely for such reasons that the CIA resorted to its enhanced techniques later that year, after gaining legal authorization.

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Update: Top Pelosi Aide Learned Of Waterboarding in 2003 -- Washington Post

Update #2: List Says Top Democrats Were Briefed on Interrogations -- New York Times

My Comment: I can never understand their reluctance to admit that they knew all that there was to know in regards to interrogation techniques and policy. This is going to shame a number of key Democrats for a very long time.

The Justice Department’s Torture Hypocrisy -- A Commentary

From National Review:

Investigate Bush lawyers’ torture analysis one day, cite it favorably the next.

The Obama Justice Department is engaged in the worst type of hypocrisy. Its Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) is nearing completion of a 220-page report which will recommend that Attorney General Eric Holder refer former Bush administration lawyers to their state bar disciplinary committees over purported ethical lapses in the legal analysis those lawyers drafted to justify harsh interrogation techniques that critics — including President Obama himself — have labeled “torture.” The draft report, which is not public, was nevertheless reported on last night by the Washington Post and New York Times — apparently based on leaks from the Justice Department (in an ethics case, no less). Such bar referrals could result in profound professional and financial damage, potentially including disbarment — all due to actions the lawyers took in defense of the United States after the 9/11 attacks.

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How The Times And Churchill Shaped Obama's Torture Policy

From Times Online:

When Barack Obama recruited Winston Churchill into the debate over CIA interrogation techniques, recalling that he never stooped to torture even in Britain’s darkest hour, something about his remarks struck me as oddly familiar.

In his press conference on Wednesday night, the President referred to “an article that I was reading the other day talking about the fact that the British during World War II, when London was being bombed to smithereens, had 200 or so detainees. And Churchill said, ‘We don’t torture’, when the entire British — all of the British people were being subjected to unimaginable risk and threat.”

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My Comment: A thought provoking commentary that provides an insight into the White House's mind on interrogation and the methods that should be adopted in the fight against our enemies. .

Los Angeles Or Waterboarding? -- A Commentary

Los Angeles

From Creators.com:

After 9/11, Americans wanted one thing from Washington: to prevent future terrorist attacks. President George W. Bush, the CIA and other hard-working officials delivered. For their trouble, a handful of those individuals now have reason to fear that they may be ruined.

My guess is that President Obama realizes it was a big mistake for his administration to release four memos written by Bush administration lawyers sanctioning enhanced interrogation techniques. Already, rage on the left has prompted Obama to go squishy on his once-insistent opposition to prosecuting any Bush administration officials. Now he says he might let his attorney general prosecute Bush lawyers.

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My Comment: The title of this post says it all.

The President Ties His Own Hands on Terror -- A Commentary

Photo: 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. AP

From The Wall Street Journal:

The point of interrogation is intelligence, not confession.

The Obama administration has declassified and released opinions of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) given in 2005 and earlier that analyze the legality of interrogation techniques authorized for use by the CIA. Those techniques were applied only when expressly permitted by the director, and are described in these opinions in detail, along with their limits and the safeguards applied to them.

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What Congress Knew About 'Torture' -- A Commentary

From The Wall Street Journal:

Barack Obama's choice of former Congressman Leon Panetta to lead the CIA at least puts a grownup, if also an intelligence rookie, in that crucial job. It also means that Mr. Panetta and Director of National Intelligence-designate Dennis Blair will soon have to decide if they want to join the left-wing crusade to purge their agencies of anyone who had anything to do with "torture."

In particular, at their nomination hearings they're likely to be asked to support a "truth commission" on the Bush Administration's terrorist interrogation policies. We hope they have the good sense to resist. And if they need any reason to push back, they could start by noting the Members of Congress who would be on the witness list to raise their right hands.

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