White House - CIA Torture Cover-up
Published by Fred Soto• December 19th, 2007
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“The United States does not torture” — George W. Bush
Some may question why the President is receiving so much flack for water-boarding when our enemy is strapping dynamite around their collective waist and blowing up American soldiers. The answer is simple, first: two wrongs don’t make a right. Torture and war crimes are nothing short of heinous no matter who engages in the practices. The destruction of CIA tapes has caused quite a stir in the public and this might be the final nail in the coffin for President Bush’s legacy.
Lets call the destruction of CIA tapes what it is: an attempt to cover-up the truth and keep damning information out of the hands of the press.
Before the Bush Brigade yells at me for using Senator Ted Kennedy to make a point, please take a look at this 8 second video by the President on Senator Kennedy.
Fast forward to the present time:
The media is stopping short of calling anyone at the White House a liar over their alleged involvement with the CIA in destroying tapes that contained evidence of torture.
From ABC News, Dec. 8, 2007
The CIA has acknowledged that it has made and destroyed videotapes documenting the use of techniques that critics have denounced as torture during interrogations of terrorism suspects.
But Mr Bush has “complete confidence” in CIA director General Michael Hayden, who has unapologetically defended the destruction of the tapes, spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
If you haven’t been paying attention, here’s a quick recap on the torture issue.
Back to the ABC News article from Dec. 8th:
The White House was careful to avoid a flat denial of involvement in decisions to destroy evidence of water-boarding and Torture by our federal agents.
Ms Perino stopped short of denying any White House involvement, saying only that Mr Bush “has no recollection of being made aware of the tapes or their destruction before yesterday” when Mr Hayden briefed him.
That language is carefully crafted and intentional. She could have said “Mr. Bush had no knowledge that tapes were destroyed before yesterday” except that could get him into trouble if the media discovers and provides evidence that the president did in fact have knowledge. Perino could have said that the President was NOT aware until recently, but that also was averted.
Let’s figure out exactly what she was trying to say without the confusing language.
“Mr. Bush [no recollection] does not remember [being made aware] being told about the tapes OR their destruction.”
In other words, the President knows nothing and yet his own staff, his legal confidants spent several years determining the fate of the CIA tapes. One of the principles of law, especially when you are involved in a potentially illegal action, is to keep a ‘client’ informed and involved in the process.
From the NY Times, Dec. 19, 2007
Bush Lawyers Discussed Fate of CIA Tapes
At least four top White House lawyers took part in discussions with the Central Intelligence Agency between 2003 and 2005 about whether to destroy videotapes showing the secret interrogations of two operatives from Al Qaeda, according to current and former administration and intelligence officials.
The Commander-in-Chief has the ultimate say on human rights issues and it would be naive to believe that the President had no idea about the torture, but why would he lie?
Senate Intelligence Committee Hearings, Michael Hayden and Destruction of the CIA Tapes
The reason the President is trying to stay out of this mess is because he runs the risk of perjuring himself.
The media hasn’t picked up on this problem yet, but it will. This summer, Abu Ghraib became a hot topic and then there was Maher Arar, an innocent man who was tortured and held for years without trial due to policy decisions made by our know-nothing administration.
Back to the reason the President is trying to skirt around the issue of torture:
“The United States does not torture” are words that may haunt the White House as we move forward on the issue.
How many times did the President publicly deny any use of torture or U.S. involvement in such activity? The fact that the White House and Department of Justice have been tied at the hip throughout Bush’s presidency is very frightening. Actions authorized by the White House that may have violated the law — or Constitution — rested on the knowledge that the DOJ would come to its rescue should allegations of illegality ever be raised.
The bottom line on torture is simple: If the enemy is using brutal tactics on Americans then let them hang themselves with the truth. The moment that our nation supports the idea of torture or even allows it to become a debatable issue, we’re conceding that we are no better than the terrorists we seek to destroy.
tags:CIA, cover-up, Law, President Bush, Security, Terrorism, torture, War
Fred Soto is an Attorney and Entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley.
Email this author | All posts by Fred Soto
And Bill Clinton never had sex with that woman! I guess it is all in how you chose to define the terms…
Clinton lied about sex, Bush is lying about war crimes. You decide…:)
Why is this author so concern with what the world think of us? What have to world ever done for us? Nothing!!! Look at the UN, what did the UN ever done for us, beside always asking for more money and crying the sky is falling but don’t do anything but sit on their hands? If you’re so concern about how the world process us, move to France or something. We are at war. Whatever we need to do to win and keep our way of life so be it. If you don’t have the balls for it move to France.
Waste = to use inefficiently or inappropriately
Waist = the narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips
Alen:
Something tells me you’re probably a religious person. I could be wrong, but let me try and use words you can understand: We are all children of God. Our borders do not separate the good guys from the bad guys. There are bad people in the world, there are even evil-doers in the world, but the color of the flag that you wave has nothing to do with whether you choose to be good or evil. Your actions and decisions define you. When you start embracing the ways of Evil in order to carry out the will of Good, you yourself become Evil.
Bob:
Part of the problem with what has transpired over the last decade is that American politics has become so polarized that it makes it very difficult to weed out the corruption that has infiltrated Washington. It astonishes me that anyone could try and compare Bill Clinton’s marital problems with barbaric acts that amounted to torture. To lie about one’s private life in order to protect your family from humiliation and the tar and feathering that Bill got was wrong but surely you can understand why he didn’t want that fact to go public. Even more importantly, the case that was being tried by the grand jury didn’t turn on Clinton’s sexuality, it was irrelevant.
When you compare both administrations — Bush and Clinton — all you are doing is looking for a way to excuse President Bush of potential war crimes. If you recall, even Clinton was punished for a seemingly non-issue (oral sex and an attempt to cover it up) so how can you possibly attempt to defend President Bush by comparing his lies to President Clinton’s lie? In the end, this shouldn’t be a partisan issue, but we’ve divided America (purposely) to the point where any criticism is dismissed simply in partisan terms rather than looking at the merits of the case to decide if justice is being denied. If you want to defend the president’s authorization of torture, then by all means, please go ahead and try.
Anon:
Thanks.
Alen..
Go back to grade school dude.
Right, and no President of the US has ever lied about anything before. There is no integrity in the job of the President. It’s only going to get worse too. There is no room for torture in the eyes of the American public, now when will the government learn this? They way things are headed now, the government will be able to arbitrarily pick anyone anywhere, label them a terrorist, and they’ll disappear, never to be seen again. They will have no rights, and they’ll probably be tortured for no reason. The government will be able to sweep anything under the rug any time they want to. Sound good, America?
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small state in their neighbourhood, which happened at the same country, beyond what were granted to those of other countries.