Push For Fed Investigations of Bush Administration Gains Momentum
John Manifold yesterday predicted that Scott Shane and the NY Times would follow up on their breaking story linking Dick Cheney to a CIA coverup with Congress. He was right.
Eventual investigations almost seem inevitable now. In addition to the flood of information that was ‘dumped’ with the Friday release of the Inspector Generals’ reports, more damaging revelations loom on the horizon:
By summer’s end, the Justice Department’s ethics office is expected to release a report on the former department officials who wrote legal opinions justifying brutal interrogations. The C.I.A. has said that at the end of August it will release part of the 2004 agency inspector general’s report on interrogation that questioned the legality and effectiveness of the program.
And an 18-month-old criminal investigation of the C.I.A.’s destruction of videotapes of waterboarding and other brutal treatment during interrogation is still under way, with a number of former C.I.A. officials called to testify before a grand jury and at least the possibility of indictments.
The special prosecutor in charge of that investigation, John H. Durham, has been mentioned as a possible choice for Mr. Holder if he decides to name someone to lead a torture investigation.
The Beast Who Slumbers understands why approving Federal investigations would be an agonizing decision for the Obama Administration to make. Administrations generally achieve a lot of their signature accomplishments at the beginning of their terms. To add what would invariably be something that the Rethugs would seize on as a ‘partisan witch-hunt’ (as opposed to their ‘by-the-book fair and impartial investigation into Clinton lying about oral sex) to the equation could derail or delay those grand objectives.
Dubya is fond of saying that “History will be final the judge” of his administration.
Fair enough. However, if the Obama Administration fails to investigate the shredding of the Constitution, the use of torture in violation of Federal and international law, and coverups that made a mockery of the Separation of Powers, not only will history judge the Obama Administration harshly. History may ultimately define that failure as the specific point where America’s constitutional form of government began its final descent. And that, ultimately, would be the Obama Administration’s signature accomplishment.
Congress didn’t suddenly wake up and realize laws were broken – they knew all along. But now something has goaded them into action. Now they fear NOT investigating more than investigating.
And…
Obama didn’t campaign on investigations, and didn’t push for them once in office. But now there is pressure for investigations, and they will likely happen, without Obama’s fingerprints on them.
So I am left with the same question I always have about Obama – was this a brilliant strategy, or was he simply overtaken by events?
I’m glad this is going to happen but the Obama administration can be so frustrating to liberals. It seems they finally see what we’ve been saying all along – that we can’t move forward without finding out what really happened. (It’s the same way with the economic stimulus they now know it was too small and their prediction were too optimistic, plus they’ve again dropped the “cash for trash” plan.)
I’ve said before that I don’t think anyone particularly covered themselves with glory in the 2001-2008 time period. If some Democrats get caught up in the investigations, so be it.
The question I have is whether Republicans will be able to carry out simultaneous hissy fits about torture investigations, the economy, health care and whatever else. I don’t think they’ll be able to.
Evil minions of Cheney were planning to kill or capture al Qaeda operatives!!!!!!
Senator: How did you keep your dasdardly plan to kill or capture Americas enemies a secret for 8 years?
Minion: We didn’t tell Congress.
Voice Over: Less than 24 hours after congress was given a “secret” briefing on the Dasdardly CIA plot to to Kill or Capture al Qaeda operatives, the NYT exposed the plan on the front page.
Which doesn’t give any part of the executive the right to make an end run around the obligations of either congressional oversight or consultations. But we already get that you are willing to toss over the bits of the Constitution and law in order to make BushCo and Cheney look good.
“Anoni” is even more clueless than the rest of the trolls. ALL these programs that were run in secret had worthy aims. It’s the secrecy, stupid.
Do you really think al Qaeda operatives think to themselves, “Well, at least I never have to worry about being assassinated by the Americans!”
Some of these constitution shredding programs are still active in the Obama administration. If we were really supposed to see any change, he would end these programs. This administration is no different than Bush’s. All this talk about partisanship and allowing the public 5 days to revierw bills has turned out to be just talk. Even you liberals need to see the shell game that is going on between D and R.
Now whatever this investigation finds, if a program is still running, Obama should shut it down. If he doesn’t, he is no better than bush.
Funny how the overt shredding of the constituion of the current goverment aimed at US citizens is supported as necessary, while the covert activity against non-citizens causes liberas such pain.
Yeah, it is funny how the GOP told us “just trust Bush” and suddenly discovers oversight and deficits when the Democrats are in charge.
My ‘out of left field’ thought is for the Obama Administration to pro-actively pardon W and Cheney.
Think about it. Not since Nixon. This immediately puts them in the same category as Nixon (on the thread of constitution shredding).
It ends the argument against investigations of ‘what would it look like to imprison a past president/VP’, etc.
There is no possible reality in which W or Cheney would ever do time for any of their past actions, so why not relinquish that fantasy, and lump them with our buddy Dick Nixon.
Cheney’s “Secret Counterterrorism Program” Not So Secret After All [NYT reported on it in Dec 2002]
Times Watch ^
Cheney’s “Secret Counterterrorism Program” Not So Secret After All On Sunday the Times hinted darkly about a “secret counterterrorism program” Dick Cheney concealed from Congress. Now the details are out — and it turns out the Times reported the program (killing Al Qaeda’s leaders) on its front page back in December 2002
The Times’ lead story Sunday was on a C.I.A. program allegedly hidden by Dick Cheney, and abruptly ended by new C.I.A. director Leon Panetta when he learned of it. The headline to intelligence reporter Scott Shane’s story huffed: “Cheney Is Linked To Concealment Of C.I.A. Project.” Democrats are of course calling for an investigation.
The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the agency’s director, Leon E. Panetta, has told the Senate and House intelligence committees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday.
Sounds serious, yes? But the program that the conniving Cheney concealed from Congress turns out to have been not much of a secret after all, as demonstrated but not acknowledged in Tuesday’s follow-up story by Shane and Mark Mazzetti: “After 9-11, C.I.A. Had Plan To Kill Al Qaeda’s Leaders.” (Well, one would hope so.)
Here’s the front-page headline from the December 15, 2002 Times (hat tip Andrew Breitbart): “Bush Has Widened Authority of C.I.A. to Kill Terrorists.” Sound familiar?
The Bush administration has prepared a list of terrorist leaders the Central Intelligence Agency is authorized to kill, if capture is impractical and civilian casualties can be minimized, senior military and intelligence officials said.
The previously undisclosed C.I.A. list includes key Qaeda leaders like Osama bin Laden and his chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, as well as other principal figures from Al Qaeda and affiliated terrorist groups, the officials said. The names of about two dozen terrorist leaders have recently been on the lethal-force list, officials said. ”It’s the worst of the worst,” an official said.
In this instance, the Times reverses its previous intelligence-related gaffe, committed in the summer of 2006 after it revealed compromising details of SWIFT, a successful terrorist surveillance program that monitored international banking transactions. When the paper came under fire, it tried to claim that SWIFT wasn’t actually a secret, even though the headline selling the paper’s big scoop read : “Bank Data Sifted In Secret By U.S. To Block Terror.”
PUBLIC LAW 107–40—SEPT. 18, 2001
Public Law 107–40
107th Congress
Joint Resolution
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES. (a) IN GENERAL.—That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations,or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.
AUTHORIZED BY LAW TO USE ALL FORCE NECESSARY AGAINST al Qaeda and it’s members.
but hey, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good rant
Anoni, that doesn’t invalidate the portion of the National Security Act of 1947 that requires the administration to inform the congressional intelligence committee. Obviously there’s a component to this program that hasn’t been released yet – all we know is the stated intent. That’s why we need investigations.
Actually, it appears that the leadership was informed of the proposals (never implemented, apparently).
Still, it does seem troubling to me that there would be those who object to an effort to kill or capture the enemy leadership in time of war. After all, such folks are undeniably legitimate targets. Almost make you wonder whose side the complainers are really on.