Posted by
EWRoss on Monday, July 13, 2009 7:00:00 AM
According to Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee,
Director Leon Panetta, in a classified briefing, told them he had terminated an
eight-year-old program not previously briefed to them because former Vice
President Cheney directed the CIA not to. They immediately demanded an
investigation into the program and Cheney's role, making accusations they could
not back up with out revealing classified information.
Former
CIA Director Michael Hayden reacted angrily. He said that he personally
kept "top members" of Congress well-informed during his tenure. House
Republicans charged that all House Democrats were doing was trying to give
Speaker Nancy Pelosi political cover for her accusations that the CIA routinely
lied to Congress after she denied receiving a CIA briefing on waterboarding.
Also we learned that Attorney General Eric Holder is
considering appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the Bush
administration's CIA interrogation practices, in contradiction to President
Obama's stated desires.
Because we don't know the details of the program Panetta
briefed to Congress and we don't know if CIA interrogators broke any laws, it's
appropriate for a bi-partisan group of investigators reporting to the House and
Senate Intelligence committees to conduct a classified look into these matters.
According to Senator Diane Feinstein on Fox News Sunday, they are. If they
discover any wrongdoing they can refer it to the Justice Department.
Democrats are taking big risks at the CIA's and the nation's
expense if they continue to make this a public political issue and if Holder
appoints a special prosecutor. Americans want their CIA to protect them from
terrorist attacks, not constantly deterred from doing their job for fear of recrimination.
They also expect the CIA to conduct its activities within the law, but they
don't want to see it handcuffed and fog-marched in public before it's convicted.
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