CIA Officials: Torture IMPOSED On The Agency By The White House

[kpete]

And in case the CIA's many leakers this week haven't already made it abundantly clear that they're going to pin responsibility on the White House for the torture, they make it explicit here.

The reason CIA officials involved the White House and Justice Department in discussions about the disposition of the tapes was that CIA officials viewed the CIA's terrorist interrogation and detention program—including the use of "enhanced" interrogation techniques—as having been imposed on the agency by the White House. "It was a political issue," said the former official, and therefore CIA officials believed that the decision as to what to do with the tapes should be made at a political level, by Miers—a former personal lawyer to President Bush and later White House staff secretary and counsel—or someone else directly representing the president.

more at:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/76574/output/print

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/11/did-the-do-lawyer-know-about-brinkemas-request/#comment-37465

[SIMPLYB1980]

1. This is more important than bickering with ourselves.

[Supersedeas]

12. ya have to wonder what the real intent of the bickering diversions are at this point

[SIMPLYB1980]

13. 90% Trolls and Freepers.

10% Thoughtful questioning.

[L. Coyote]

18. Impressive optimism. I was going with 98%. Imagine the RNC troll budget!

Where in India are they outsourcing trolling :rofl:

[SIMPLYB1980]

21. LoL!

:rofl:
Whats sad is I don't doubt that at all.

[L. Coyote]

22. They could save money starting an English school in China!

[MannyGoldstein]

2. I Think They Got Bush Good This Time. Real Good.

When the WH declines to comment, I figure that it means that they're utterly #&@*ed.

So what will the "Yes Mr. President sir!" Congressional Democrats do?

[dysfunctional press]

4. i've heard that phrase uttered too many times...

i'll believe it when i see the perp frog-marched to the curb.

[DCKit]

27. Yeah, but you KNOW he had at least one cataplectic fit over this...

or at least had to change his underwear and ran through half the scotch in the WH cellar.

Between this gem and the NIE, both of which are clearly related, Dumbya and Darth are having a VERY unmerry holiday season.

Still waiting for the other jackboot to drop. Will it be the Joint Chiefs? The NSA? The FBI? The DOJ? C'mon folks, he's betrayed all of you as much as the rest of America. Spill already!!!

[dysfunctional press]

31. i know no such thing...

i think they feel fairly confident that their media will ultimately come to the rescue, and paint it to be not such a bad thing. after all- most of the american people probably expected that the cia had damn better have tortured somebody to find the people responsible for 9/11, prevent another one, and to find iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

btw- i'm not saying that i endoerse this type of thinking- only that it is how a big part of the hoi polloi feel about torture- and a lot of them probably don't consider water-boarding to be torture anyway, seeing as it doesn't leave a mark and all...

[OneGrassRoot]

3. Thanks, kpete. I bookmark nearly everything you post. n/t

[OneGrassRoot]

7. I would LOVE to know what Poppy Bush, ex-CIA man, is saying about all this. n/t

[madokie]

11. I think poppy is of the belief that in every cloud there is a silver lining to be found

its all spin with them there bush bastards, always was always will be

[formercia]

15. Poppy is part of the Problem

He was ramrodding the CIA when VP. He should be in prison for what he did.

[SpiralHawk]

5. "Big deal. Torture is a republicon family value." - Commander AWOL Bush

"Hell, my perfectly 'innocent' (smirk) occult cabal even does it. Smirk."

- Commander AWOL,
Uber Whimp, Skull & Boner Occult Brigade of Republicon Homelander Chickenhawks

[NewJeffCT]

6. There goes those America-hating commie-pinko liberals again

They're all a bunch of wimpy hippies there at CIA.

[leveymg]

8. Miers was protecting Bush. Zubaydah knew all about the CIA's role in training the 9/11 hijackers,

and the U.S. was well aware of the details of the planned attack. See, WHAT THE CIA DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT ABU ZUBAYDAH, http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2439700

Zubaydah was driven insane, and his memories effectively erased by oxygen deprivation during repeated water boarding. Without killing him, that insured that he won't be able to provide credible testimony. The tapes document that process.

If you want to preserve evidence, and obtain accurate testimony, repeated waterboarding is the last thing you would want to do. But, that apparently wasn't the purpose. Otherwise, they would have used other methods to extract information from Mr. Zubaydah.

[formercia]

16. Can't have any loose ends

The boys always erase their tracks and make sure there are no witnesses.

At first, I wondered why they just didn't whack him right off, but then I realized they had to squeeze him to find out who else was in the loop that they didn't know about.

[tekisui]

9. And the CIA hits back.

It seems to me that the CIA has turned in a major way, against the War Crimes administration. The NIE-Iran release has the opening shot.

The WH hit back with the CIA torture tape destruction. And, now the the WH is implicated in ordering torture. I never thought I would root for the CIA. Maybe they will destroy each other.

[madokie]

10. I bet Miers is about to shit about now

I don't think she will lie down and let anyone use her on this either so bushco* watch out, this woman will go for the jugular. she is a surviver imo

[Elidor]

28. Miers??? She longs to be the carpet that Bush walks on.

She's a true believer. You're right that she's about to shit, but she is not a strong personality.

[SIMPLYB1980]

14. Hmmm.

Why are their only 13 posts in this thread? Oh yeah you didn't bash a Democrat so it's not worth posting in. Sad.

[magellan]

17. Of COURSE it came from the top

The question that remains to be answered is "What will be done about it?" Hope we start to see an answer soon.

[L. Coyote]

19. Note that the torture video was fed to Langley. Was it a live feed? Who participated

remotely? Bush? Cheney? Tenet? Rumsfeld?

[malaise]

20. Duh!

K & R

[Richard Steele]

23. K&R

[Kurovski]

24. K&R. (nt)

[Nikki Stone1]

25. NOT. A. SURPRISE. (But nice to hear it admitted.)

Can we impeach now?

[tekisui]

26. The tape destruction may crack open.

They are going to hold investigations and hearings that will get on record questions that start at "were the tapes destroyed? Who? Why?" and lead to what was taped.

We will get on Congressional Record the torture techniques and abuses, and who even knows what else.

Everyone will run from this, no one wants to be charged with torture.

[MadMaddie]

29. Sounds like Miers and * have committed War Crimes....

oopsie...The Hague doesn't rest....they will get them....

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

30. Wouldn't it be nice to see the CIA purge itself of the cancer associated with the BFEE?

We are talkin', Newsweek, however. Blech!