Heads to roll under Obama

Several senior Democrats oppose keeping National Intelligence director Mike McConnell (far left) and Central Intelligence Agency director Michael Hayden (left) in their jobs. -- PHOTO: AP, REUTERS

THE current chiefs of National Intelligence and the CIA expect to be replaced when Mr Barack Obama takes over as US president on Jan 20, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

CIA reveals: We said in 1974 that Israel had nuclear weapons

"The Central Intelligence Agency, backed by bodies including the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research and the Defense Intelligence Agency, determined in August 1974 that Israel had nuclear "weapons in being," a "small number" of which it "produced and stockpiled.""

Stonewalled by the C.I.A.

"MORE than five years ago, Congress and President Bush created the 9/11 commission. The goal was to provide the American people with the fullest possible account of the “facts and circumstances relating to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001” — and to offer recommendations to prevent future attacks. Soon after its creation, the president’s chief of staff directed all executive branch agencies to cooperate with the commission."

Blaming the CIA Won't Work

"Robert Novak's rearranging of facts that have already been contorted by Congressman Hoekstra makes for an interesting read, but the defamation of thousands of professional intelligence officers to shield a wholly incompetent Bush administration from its manifold failures is little more than a cheap shot."

CIA man 'can take White House down'

"Former head of the CIA's clandestine service Jose Rodriguez claims he can take the White House down over a torture cover-up scandal."

CIA Torture and other War Crimes

"Ethically, torture degrades the country that permits it, the organization that carries it out and the individuals who perform it. Doctors are not present during torture as it would violate the Hippocratic Oath, so it is up to the torturer to decide how far to go. If a victim dies while being interrogated by torture, as has happened a number of times in both Afghanistan and Iraq, it is both a war crime and murder."

Judge urged not to ask about CIA tapes

Central Intelligence Agency Director Michael Hayden speaks to reporters upon his arrival in the Capitol for a meeting with the House Appropriations Committee's Select Intelligence Oversight Subcommittee hearing on CIA interrogation programs, in Washington December 13, 2007. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES)

"The Bush administration told a federal judge it was not obligated to preserve videotapes of CIA interrogations of suspected terrorists and urged the court not to look into the tapes' destruction."

Can you say dictatorship? I knew you could...

House votes to outlaw CIA waterboarding

"On a 222-199 vote, the House approved a measure to require intelligence agents to comply with the Army Field Manual, which meets the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of war prisoners and prohibits torture."

CIA Destroyed Tapes Despite Court Orders

"The Bush administration was under court order not to discard evidence of detainee torture and abuse months before the CIA destroyed videotapes that revealed some of its harshest interrogation tactics."

Are Americans 'Better Than That'?

"The Dec. 11 report by the Post’s Joby Warrick and Dan Eggen, which describes Kiriakou’s experience in interrogating suspected terrorists, raises in an unusually direct way an abiding question: Should the United States of America be using forms of torture dating back to the Spanish Inquisition?"

Waterboarding approved at top levels of US government

"The CIA's waterboarding of a top al-Qaida figure was approved at the top levels of the U.S. government, a former CIA agent said Tuesday as agency director Gen. Michael Hayden prepared for questioning by congressional panels about the destruction of videotapes of terror suspect interrogations."

A drip-drip of revelations

"The waterboarding controversy has lifted the veil on the fact that the Bush White House gave the CIA a green light to use illegal torture techniques."

Hayden says CIA videotapes destroyed

"The CIA videotaped its interrogations of two top terror suspects in 2002 and destroyed the tapes three years later out of fear they would leak to the public and compromise the identities of U.S. questioners, the director of the agency told employees Thursday."

Confessions of a Covert Agent

"I’ve seen the worst things imaginable, hell on earth. Had friends die in my arms. Seen piles of rotten corpses. Seen men, women and children tortured. I’ve seen the eyes of terrified and confused children being sold into a vicious life of slavery and an early death."

Government Secrecy May Lead to New Trial In Va. Terrorism Case

"U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema in Alexandria said her skepticism in the case of Ali al-Timimi stems from government misinformation in another major terrorism prosecution: that of convicted Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. Federal prosecutors recently revealed that the CIA had told Brinkema that the interrogations of enemy combatant witnesses in Moussaoui's trial had not been audiotaped or videotaped, when they had. The judge called the factual error "a mess" yesterday but indicated it probably would not affect Moussaoui's guilty plea or life prison term."

Okay, so the government lied about evidence and God knows what else in the Moussaoui case - so much so that it may be cause for a mis-trial in another terror case. But, in the case of Moussaoui, the case in which the government was directly implicated, it won't make a difference ~ I don't get it. Do you?

Did McClellan Accuse Bush of Lying to Federal Prosecutors?

"The text reads: “not going to protect one staffer and sacrifice the guy this Pres. asked to stick his head in the meat grinder because of the incompetence of others.” However, the words “this Pres.” Have been struck through and replaced with “that was.” Thus in the original text, Cheney appears to be implicating Bush directly in a cover-up plan. And so does the McClellan disclosure."

Moussaoui judge questions government

Zacarias Moussaoui is shown in an undated police photograph. The CIA erred in twice telling a court in the case of September 11 conspirator Moussaoui that it did not have any recordings of interrogations of 'enemy combatants,' when in fact it had three video or audio tapes, according to a letter released on Tuesday. (Sherburne County Sheriffs office/Handout/Reuters)

"A federal judge expressed frustration Tuesday that the government provided incorrect information about evidence in the prosecution of Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and raised the possibility of ordering a new trial in another high-profile terrorism case."

Okay, hang on. If the judge who presided over the Moussaoui trail is concerned that the government provided "incorrect information about evidence," wouldn't that be grounds for a mis-trail?

Bush's Plame-gate Cover-up

"In early fall 2003, George W. Bush joined in what appears to have been a criminal cover-up to conceal the role of his White House in exposing the classified identity of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson."

The CIA’s Detention, Interrogation, and Rendition Program

Excellent video series.

Former Intel Officers on Mukasey and Torture

by Ray McGovern - Nov 7, 2007

Author's note: Twenty-four former intelligence and national security officials delivered an urgent message Monday morning to the chairman and the ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, calling on them to hold the nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey for attorney general until he states his opinion on the legality of waterboarding.

Their message strongly endorsed the view of former judge advocates general that waterboarding "is inhumane, is torture, is illegal." The intelligence veterans added that it is also a notoriously unreliable way to acquire accurate information.

They noted that the factors cited by the president and Mukasey as obstacles to his giving an opinion on waterboarding can be easily solved by briefing Mukasey on waterboarding and on CIA interrogation methods.

The former intelligence officials pointed out that during their careers they frequently had to walk the thin line between morality and expediency, all the while doing their best to abide by the values the majority of Americans have held in common over the years. They appealed to Senators Patrick Leahy and Arlen Specter to rise to the occasion and discharge their responsibility to defend those same values.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MEMORANDUM FOR:
Chairman and Ranking Member
Senate Committee on the Judiciary

FROM:
Former U.S. Intelligence Officers

SUBJECT:
Nomination of Michael Mukasey for Attorney General

Dear Senators Leahy and Specter,

Values that are extremely important to us as former intelligence officers are at stake in your committee's confirmation deliberations on Judge Michael Mukasey. With hundreds of years of service in sensitive national security activities behind us, we are deeply concerned that your committee may move his nomination to the full Senate without insisting that Mukasey declare himself on whether he believes the practice of waterboarding is legal.

We feel this more acutely than most others, for in our careers we have frequently had to navigate the delicate balance between morality and expediency, all the while doing our best to abide by the values the vast majority of Americans hold in common. We therefore believe we have a particular moral obligation to speak out. We can say it no better than four retired judge advocates general (two admirals and two generals) who wrote you over the weekend, saying: "Waterboarding is inhumane, it is torture, and it is illegal."

Judge Mukasey's refusal to comment on waterboarding, on grounds that it would be "irresponsible" to provide "an uninformed legal opinion based on hypothetical facts and circumstances," raises serious questions. There is nothing hypothetical or secret about the fact that waterboarding was used by U.S. intelligence officers as an interrogation technique before the Justice Department publicly declared torture "abhorrent" in a legal opinion in December 2004. But after Alberto Gonzales became attorney general in February 2005, Justice reportedly issued a secret memo authorizing harsh physical and psychological tactics, including waterboarding, which were approved for use in combination. A presidential executive order of July 20, 2007 authorized "enhanced interrogation techniques" that had been banned for use by the U.S. Army. Although the White House announced that the order provides "clear rules" to govern treatment of detainees, the rules are classified, so defense attorneys, judges, juries – and even nominee Mukasey – can be prevented from viewing them.

Those are some of the "facts and circumstances." They are not hypothetical; and there are simple ways for Judge Mukasey to become informed, which we propose below.

Last Thursday, President George W. Bush told reporters it was unfair to ask Mukasey about interrogation techniques about which he had not been briefed. "He doesn't know whether we use that technique [waterboarding] or not," the president said. Judge Mukasey wrote much the same in his Oct. 30 letter, explaining that he was unable to give an opinion on the legality of waterboarding because he doesn't know whether it is being used: "I have not been made aware of the details of any interrogation program to the extent that any such program may be classified and thus do not know what techniques may be involved in any such program." Whether or not the practice is currently in use by U.S. intelligence, it should in fact be easy for him to respond. All he need do is find out what waterboarding is and then decide whether he considers it legal.

The conundrum created to justify the nominee's silence on this key issue is a synthetic one. It is within your power to resolve it readily. If Mukasey continues to drag his feet, you need only to facilitate a classified briefing for him on waterboarding and the CIA interrogation program. He will then be able to render an informed legal opinion. We strongly suggest that you sit in on any such briefing and that you invite the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to take part as well. Receiving the same briefing at the same time (and, ideally, having it taped) should enhance the likelihood of candor and make it possible for all to be – and to stay – on the same page on this delicate issue.

If the White House refuses to allow such a briefing, your committee must, in our opinion, put a hold on Mukasey's nomination. We are aware that the president warned last week that it will be either Mukasey as our attorney general or no one. So be it. It is time to stand up for what is right and require from the executive the information necessary for the Senate to function responsibly and effectively. It would seem essential not to approve a nominee who has already made clear he is reluctant to ask questions of the White House. How can a person with that attitude even be proposed to be our chief law-enforcement officer?

We strongly urge that you not send Mukasey's nomination to the full Senate before he makes clear his view on waterboarding. Otherwise, there is considerable risk of continued use of the officially sanctioned torture techniques that have corrupted our intelligence services, knocked our military off the high moral ground, severely damaged our country's standing in the world, and exposed U.S. military and intelligence people to similar treatment when captured or kidnapped. One would think that Judge Mukasey would want to be briefed on these secret interrogation techniques and to clarify where he stands.

The most likely explanation for Mukasey's reticence is his concern that, should his conscience require him to condemn waterboarding, this could cause extreme embarrassment and even legal jeopardy for senior officials – this time not just for the so-called "bad apples" at the bottom of the barrel. We believe it very important that the Senate not acquiesce in his silence – and certainly not if, as seems the case, he is more concerned about protecting senior officials than he is in enforcing the law and the Constitution.

It is important to get beyond shadowboxing on this key issue. In our view, condoning Mukasey's evasiveness would mean ignoring fundamental American values and the Senate's constitutional prerogative of advice and consent.

At stake in your committee and this nomination are questions of legality, morality, and our country's values. And these are our primary concerns as well. As professional intelligence officers, however, we must point to a supreme irony – namely, that waterboarding and other harsh interrogation practices are ineffective tools for eliciting reliable information. Our own experience dovetails well with that of U.S. Army intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. John Kimmons, who told a Pentagon press conference on Sept. 6, 2006: "No good intelligence is going to come from abusive practices. I think history tells us that. I think the empirical evidence of the last five years, hard years, tells us that."

Speaking out so precisely and unequivocally took uncommon courage, because Kimmons knew that just across the Potomac President Bush would be taking quite a different line at a press conference scheduled to begin as soon as Kimmons finished his. At the White House press conference focusing on interrogation techniques, the president touted the success that the CIA was having in extracting information from detainees by using an "alternative set of procedures." He said these procedures had to be "tough," in order to deal with particularly recalcitrant detainees who "had received training on how to resist interrogation" and had "stopped talking."

The Undersigned
(Official duties refer to former government work.)

Brent Cavan
Intelligence Analyst, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA

Ray Close
Directorate of Operations, CIA for 26 years – 22 of them overseas; former Chief of Station, Saudi Arabia

Ed Costello
Counter-espionage, FBI

Michael Dennehy
Supervisory Special Agent for 32 years, FBI; U.S. Marine Corps for three years

Rosemary Dew
Supervisory Special Agent, Counterterrorism, FBI

Philip Giraldi
Operations officer and counter-terrorist specialist, Directorate of Operations, CIA

Michael Grimaldi
Intelligence Analyst, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA; Federal law enforcement officer

Mel Goodman
Division Chief, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA; Professor, National Defense University; Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy

Larry Johnson
Intelligence analysis and operations officer, CIA; Deputy Director, Office of Counter Terrorism, Department of State

Richard Kovar
Executive Assistant to the Deputy Director for Intelligence, CIA: Editor, Studies In Intelligence

Charlotte Lang
Supervisory Special Agent, FBI

W. Patrick Lang
U.S. Army Colonel, Special Forces, Vietnam; Professor, U.S. Military Academy, West Point; Defense Intelligence Officer for Middle East, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA); founding director, Defense HUMINT Service

Lynne Larkin
Operations Officer, Directorate of Operations, CIA; counterintelligence; coordination among intelligence and crime prevention agencies; CIA policy coordination staff ensuring adherence to law in operations

Steve Lee
Intelligence Analyst for terrorism, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA

Jon S. Lipsky
Supervisory Special Agent, FBI

David MacMichael
Senior Estimates Officer, National Intelligence Council, CIA; History professor; Veteran, U.S. Marines (Korea)

Tom Maertens
Foreign Service Officer and Intelligence Analyst, Department of State; Deputy Coordinator for Counter-terrorism, Department of State; National Security Council (NSC) Director for Non-Proliferation

James Marcinkowski
Operations Officer, Directorate of Operations, CIA by way of U.S. Navy

Mary McCarthy
National Intelligence Officer for Warning; Senior Director for Intelligence Programs, National Security Council

Ray McGovern
Intelligence Analyst, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA; morning briefer, The President's Daily Brief; chair of National Intelligence Estimates; Co-founder, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

Sam Provance
U.S. Army Intelligence Analyst, Germany and Iraq (Abu Ghraib); Whistleblower

Coleen Rowley
Special Agent and attorney, FBI; Whistleblower on the negligence that facilitated the attacks of 9/11.

Joseph Wilson
Foreign Service Officer; Chargé d'Affairs, Iraq (1990); Ambassador to Gabon and Sao Tome/Principe; Senior Director for African Affairs, NSC

Valerie Plame Wilson
Operations officer, Directorate of Operations, CIA