Lying & Hiding Facts: White House, Congress, CIA in Cahoots

Senate Oversight Committee Task

Senate Oversight Committee Report Results

(Getting Very Ugly Real Fast)

More follow-up to the posts and updates below. This story just keeps on growing. The best summary comes from here, and is stated in this way regarding everything that follows concerning the current battle between the CIA and the Senate Intelligence Committee about who spied on whom, or not, and why or why not: 

“[Now] ... instead of having either of those documents brought before the public, we will have to endure a long – weeks? months? years? – battle between the Senate and the CIA over who broke into whose computers first. The result will be more secrecy, less information, and, of course, no accountability.”

The second source is from here. The key statement here is one I have had a very hard time agreeing with in any sense. It reads: “A recent post by the Editorial Page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, criticized the Central Intelligence Agency’s effort to keep secret two reports on its post-9/11 detention and interrogation practices. He argued that the CIA’s ongoing fight with Congress is an outgrowth of the decision President Obama made at the beginning of his administration to “look forward” instead of holding his predecessor’s administration accountable.” (Note: This is the part I disagree with the President about – totally – and for a hundred valid reasons that are based on my 12 years as a trained and experienced interrogator who worked all over the world).

That point is the most-critical aspect of the whole “enhanced interrogation is okay – and it works and keeps us safe crowd – who believe that BS, which includes water boarding. And, yes, that too is torture. It all leaves a horrible stain on the country and that that ugly stain will remain forever. It will not go away or leave when those involved and who condoned it leave office, either. Things this ugly never go away.

Update (March 11, 2014), from three different sources:

First: the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The other two sources are from the two links listed in the story: (1) The NY TIMES and (2) McClatchy.  This story as they say in the media business has legs.

Now the excellent 8-minute video background segment from MSNBC which includes an appearance by the NY TIMES reporter, Mark Mazzetti who wrote the story.

Any professional well-trained and experienced interrogator worth his or her weight in salt will tell you and would agree that water boarding is not and never has been effective. It has been and remains a serious war crime – being both illegal and unlawful.

Those who profess differently are entitled to their opinions, of course, but opinions ever trump facts or the truth and that is what we are dealing with here – the truth. Most of that talk comes from hardcore war hawks, who in most cases are better referred to as “Chicken Hawks” since most of them never served a single day in uniform, let alone ever saw combat. They believe torture works. It does not. And, it certainly does not “keep us safe.” For anyone interested in the truth and facts, this should matter. That is what this Blog aims for: the Truth. Thanks for stopping by.