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bobthedrummer

(26,083 posts)
Fri Sep 19, 2014, 03:39 PM Sep 2014

CIA chief: "If I've done something wrong, I'll stand up and admit it"

Source: by Spencer Ackerman via The Guardian

John Brennan expresses frustration with Senate and media while decrying lack of trust in agency at intelligence conference

Read more: http://theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/18/john-brennan-cia-senate-frustration-conference



Here are a few things Brennan to chew on DU.

John Brennan's Heavy Baggage (Ray McGovern 3-11-13 Consortium News)
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2013/03/11/john-brennans-heavy-baggage

John Brennan's extremism and dishonesty rewarded with CIA Director nomination (Glenn Greenwald 1-7-13 The Guardian)
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/07/john-brennan-dishonesty-cia-director-nomination

What are your thoughts about this, DU?
29 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
CIA chief: "If I've done something wrong, I'll stand up and admit it" (Original Post) bobthedrummer Sep 2014 OP
Let me call BS on that statement.b//nt dballance Sep 2014 #1
Of course he believes NOTHING he does could be wrong, so there's that. BillZBubb Sep 2014 #2
If you have any problems, just give us a call... PeoViejo Sep 2014 #3
I wonder what the late Michael Hastings article on Brennan would have revealed to US. bobthedrummer Sep 2014 #4
''Your questions are almost as dumb as the committee's.'' Octafish Sep 2014 #5
If You Thought Obama's Drone Godfather Was Powerful, Wait 'Til He's at the CIA (1-7-13 Wired article bobthedrummer Sep 2014 #6
Kind of hard to trust an agency that trains, arms and funds ISIS 951-Riverside Sep 2014 #7
"Why do they hate me?!" RufusTFirefly Sep 2014 #8
No US "boots on the ground"= private contractors, they'll do anything if the price is right bobthedrummer Sep 2014 #9
"You people don't TRUST Spooks R Us? We're SHOCKED! And HURT!!" n/t TygrBright Sep 2014 #10
There's nothing wrong with the CIA christx30 Sep 2014 #11
More BS. 840high Sep 2014 #12
I agree, this is from libertarian publication and Greenwald is libertarian Todays_Illusion Sep 2014 #22
Lack of trust in agency? Who wouldn't trust the CIA? It's not like they're spies or something. DesertDiamond Sep 2014 #13
"The most efficient accident, in simple assassinations, is a fall of 75 feet or more onto a hard bobthedrummer Sep 2014 #14
Great stuff. Thanks for posting it. n/t Psephos Sep 2014 #20
We'd like to take a peak anyway, Johnny boy. Ash_F Sep 2014 #15
"Brennan expresses frustration with Senate and media while decrying lack of trust in agency..." Mr_Jefferson_24 Sep 2014 #16
Skilled researchers who are also professional liars. librechik Sep 2014 #17
Notice Mr. Brennan didn't say ''We.'' Octafish Sep 2014 #18
Yes Sir, I did notice that, in the context of "We don't torture..." & "Well, we tortured some folks" bobthedrummer Sep 2014 #23
"Would I lie?" nt bemildred Sep 2014 #19
Little warning, theguardian.com, Greenwald, are libertarian and strongly anti-Obama. Todays_Illusion Sep 2014 #21
I appreciate the staff of The Intercept, especially cofounder Jeremy Scahill bobthedrummer Sep 2014 #25
Your Agency is still "evil", as Otis Pike declared decades ago bobthedrummer Sep 2014 #24
Post-Watergate Intelligence Investigations (Mary Ferrell Foundation) bobthedrummer Sep 2014 #26
Gee, protecting US by denying US our rights-goes back quite away into history w/o accountability bobthedrummer Oct 2014 #27
Walter F. Mondale was one of the politicians that proposed Intelligence Committees in 1966 bobthedrummer Oct 2014 #28
What about owning up to ISIS? kick bobthedrummer Oct 2014 #29
 

PeoViejo

(2,178 posts)
3. If you have any problems, just give us a call...
Fri Sep 19, 2014, 03:52 PM
Sep 2014

"Rumsfeld’s skedaddle from Paris thus spared him the possible humiliation that befell Gen. Augusto Pinochet, who had been head of Chile’s military dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. While on a trip to the United Kingdom in 1998, Pinochet was arrested on a Spanish judicial warrant and was held under house arrest until 2000. The Spanish judge cited the same principle of universal jurisdiction. Pinochet was freed only after the intervention of high-powered friends, including former President George H.W. Bush and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger."

Perhaps they were worried that Pinochet would 'Spill the Beans.'

 

bobthedrummer

(26,083 posts)
4. I wonder what the late Michael Hastings article on Brennan would have revealed to US.
Fri Sep 19, 2014, 03:53 PM
Sep 2014

Below is a 2-23-11 Rolling Stone article by Michael Hastings that seems very appropriate for this thread imho.

Another Runaway General: Army Deploys Psy-ops on U.S. Senators
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/another-runaway-general-army-deploys-psy-ops-on-u-s-senators-20110223

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
5. ''Your questions are almost as dumb as the committee's.''
Fri Sep 19, 2014, 04:11 PM
Sep 2014

Past CIA Director Richard Helms to reporters asking about CIA-Mafia assassination plots and his efforts to pin the plan on JFK in his testimony before the Church Committee. The truth was Nixon "authorized" the CIA-Mafia plots in 1960 as vice president.

Brennan continues in that fine tradition of falling upward through failure that coincidentally benefits the 1-percent. While he may be willing to stand up and admit it, the People's representatives need to know what is going to hold him accountable. So far, not so good.

 

bobthedrummer

(26,083 posts)
6. If You Thought Obama's Drone Godfather Was Powerful, Wait 'Til He's at the CIA (1-7-13 Wired article
Fri Sep 19, 2014, 04:21 PM
Sep 2014

by Spencer Ackerman & Noah Schachtman)
http://www.wired.com/2013/01/brennan-2

"We don't torture". BULLSHIT!

 

951-Riverside

(7,234 posts)
7. Kind of hard to trust an agency that trains, arms and funds ISIS
Fri Sep 19, 2014, 04:43 PM
Sep 2014


and...



Video: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/syria-arming-the-rebels/

NARRATOR: But in recent weeks, they have been receiving more sophisticated weapons. It appears the Obama administration is now allowing select groups of rebels like them to receive U.S.-made anti-tank missiles, known as TOWs. Many of the fighters have filmed themselves firing the missiles. In addition to receiving weapons, the commander says he and his men were taken on a long journey to a secret training camp.

REBEL COMMANDER: [through interpreter] They asked for a group of 80 or 90 fighters from our command, and we headed towards the Turkish border.

NARRATOR: Based on their accounts, we retraced their journey across the border into Turkey. After a 14-hour drive, they say they arrived in the Turkish capital of Ankara and were brought to a hotel. They were kept inside and questioned by Americans, who would only say they were from the military. But the rebels believed they were from the CIA.

REBEL COMMANDER: [through interpreter] We met them for six to seven hours a day. It was medical examinations, questions for each person individually, like, “When did you join the uprising?” And “What was your profession or military rank?”

They had tracked our work and asked us to verify information about attacks we carried out, such as who was present and how many men were martyred. Your responses have to match the entire group’s.

NARRATOR: A week later, the rebels say they were surprised by what happened next.

REBEL COMMANDER: [through interpreter] We only found out where we were going to be trained on the last day in Ankara, when the Americans said goodbye and that, “Tomorrow, we’ll see you in Qatar.”

NARRATOR: They were flown 1,500 miles away to Doha, the capital of Qatar, which is a key U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf.

REBEL COMMANDER: [through interpreter] We drove for about two, two-and-a-half hours to reach the training ground. It was close to the Saudi border. We didn’t know where we were because it was desert all around.

NARRATOR: Over the course of three weeks, they say they were trained by Americans at a base in the desert guarded by Qatari soldiers. Like many of the rebels who were sent to Qatar, 21-year-old Hussein had never had any previous military training.

HUSSEIN: [through interpreter] They trained us to ambush regime or enemy vehicles and cut off the road. They also trained us on how to attack a vehicle, raid it, retrieve information or weapons and munitions, and how to finish off soldiers still alive after an ambush.

NARRATOR: The rebels were outfitted with brand-new uniforms and boots.

MUHAMMAD ALI: [subtitles] Those trousers are from them, right?

HUSSEIN: [subtitles] Yeah. We got these boots in training.

MUHAMMAD ALI: The Americans were warning the fighters not to tell this story at all. And even at one point, they told them, “If in any case this story will be published, we will stop funding you or arming you.”

NARRATOR: The CIA and the State Department declined to comment on the fighters’ accounts of arming and training, though the Obama administration has said it plans to step up support to the rebels, and there have been other reports the CIA is running covert training out of Jordan.





...then there's programs like MKUltra, MKNaomi and MKDelta where the CIA conducted secret and still classified experiments on us citizens.
 

bobthedrummer

(26,083 posts)
9. No US "boots on the ground"= private contractors, they'll do anything if the price is right
Fri Sep 19, 2014, 05:33 PM
Sep 2014

Booz Allen, the World's Most Profitable Spy Organization (Drake Bennett & Michael Riley 6-20-13 Business Week)
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-20/booz-allen-the-worlds-most-profitable-spy-organization

Private Military and Private Security Companies
http://www.privatemilitary.org/home.html

christx30

(6,241 posts)
11. There's nothing wrong with the CIA
Fri Sep 19, 2014, 07:02 PM
Sep 2014

spying on members of Congress and their staffers! Everyone knows Congress runs their own intelligence agency that spies on the Executive branch.

 

bobthedrummer

(26,083 posts)
14. "The most efficient accident, in simple assassinations, is a fall of 75 feet or more onto a hard
Sat Sep 20, 2014, 01:23 PM
Sep 2014

surface. Elevator shafts, stairwells, unscreened windows and bridges will serve... (in some cases), it will usually be necessary
to stun or drug the subject before dropping him." Excepted from the "training manual" known as KUBARK

KUBARK Manual (Scribd)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/487663/ciakubarktorture-manual

Nothing new there, is there? Happened on someone else's watch, right?

How about owning up to the "research and development" of all those systems used to "stun" or "drug the subject"? How about the so-called "non-lethal" systems? The experts in that field include several of your colleagues, Mr. Director, right?

on edit: changed to working link

Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program (US Department of Defense)
http://jnlwp.defense.gov/Home.aspx

How about owning up to a few simple things, some of which can be found in the Federation of American Scientists Secrecy blog?
Secrecy News (FAS)
http://fas.org/blogs/secrecy

What does the recent article below really mean about the targeting of terrorists, which is one of your areas of expertise, Mr. Director?
Pentagon Funds New Data-Mining Tools to Track and Kill Activists (by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed via 9-8-14 Truth-Out)
http://truth-out.org/news/item/26049-pentagon-funds-new-data-mining-tools-to-track-and-kill-activists

Anyone else have some questions for Mr. Director???? This is a good thread to ask them DUers.

Mr_Jefferson_24

(8,559 posts)
16. "Brennan expresses frustration with Senate and media while decrying lack of trust in agency..."
Sat Sep 20, 2014, 09:47 PM
Sep 2014

Aw c'mon, who doesn't trust those fun loving pranksters over at the CIA. A rogue agency apparently accountable to no one historically known for murder, drug running, spying, false flag ops etc, etc. And all cloaked in secrecy.

I know I trust them.

librechik

(30,674 posts)
17. Skilled researchers who are also professional liars.
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 10:50 AM
Sep 2014

One part of the CIA breaks its ass trying to get accurate information, while Management and Omertà are busy lying and covering up what they found. What could possibly go wrong?

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
18. Notice Mr. Brennan didn't say ''We.''
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 11:14 AM
Sep 2014
After Lying and Apologizing, Brennan Apologizes for Both

BY Dan Froomkin
The Intercept, Sept. 18, 2014

CIA Director John Brennan today petulantly denied that he lied in March when he publicly insisted that the CIA had not improperly accessed the computers of Senate staffers investigating the agency’s role in torturing detainees.

Since then, an internal investigation found the CIA had done just that, and Brennan was forced to apologize to Senate intelligence committee members.

In March, Brennan told Andrea Mitchell at a Council on Foreign Relations event: “As far as the allegations of the CIA hacking into Senate computers, nothing could be further from the truth… We wouldn’t do that. I mean, that’s just beyond the, you know, the scope of reason in terms of what we do.”

But on Thursday, facing questions at an industry trade conference, Brennan carefully parsed his earlier statement, insisting that he had only been denying the parts of Mitchell’s question that involved accusations of hacking with the intent to thwart the investigation.

“Thwart the investigation? Hacking in? We did not,” Brennan said.

CONTINUED w links etc...

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/18/lying-apologize-brennan-qualifies/
 

bobthedrummer

(26,083 posts)
23. Yes Sir, I did notice that, in the context of "We don't torture..." & "Well, we tortured some folks"
Mon Sep 22, 2014, 01:38 PM
Sep 2014

I really am tired of Mrs. Greenspan's (Andrea Mitchell) "exclusives" for the media networks owned by the biggest DoD contractor (GE) that is on public record for not paying ANY income taxes, etc., etc.

A free press is a requirement of democracy in the context of informed citizens-not whatever forms of domestic full spectrum dominance we currently are experiencing. Of course this can't happen in The United States of America


Todays_Illusion

(1,209 posts)
21. Little warning, theguardian.com, Greenwald, are libertarian and strongly anti-Obama.
Mon Sep 22, 2014, 03:04 AM
Sep 2014

And I want to ask here in DU, do you know how much influence the libertarians are exercising in this election, in the news in websites, did you know that Nate Silver is having problems because he now works for a libertarian, by problems I don't think he is allowed to show what he is finding.





Edit: remove word fragment, add word influence.

 

bobthedrummer

(26,083 posts)
27. Gee, protecting US by denying US our rights-goes back quite away into history w/o accountability
Wed Oct 1, 2014, 01:53 PM
Oct 2014

then there are all those crimes, including murder-hidden by "national security" (a crime in itself, on paper)
these are all pdf's takes awhile to load

From some of The Pike Committee docs from the fall of 1975 (Mary Ferrell Foundation)
U.S. Intelligence Agencies and Activities: Domestic Intelligence Programs-Hearings Before the Select Committee on Intelligence, Part 3
http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=145086

Can't We All Just Get Along?
Improving the Law Enforcement-Intelligence Community Relationship
National Defense Intelligence College
June 2007 (via Cryptome)
http://cryptome.org/2014/04/spy-cop-coop.pdf

Statement for the Record
Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

by James R. Clapper Director National Intelligence
January 29, 2014
http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/140129/clapper.pdf

This is certainly still LBN as well as history DU.
Add to it.

 

bobthedrummer

(26,083 posts)
28. Walter F. Mondale was one of the politicians that proposed Intelligence Committees in 1966
Wed Oct 1, 2014, 02:11 PM
Oct 2014

Last edited Wed Oct 1, 2014, 04:29 PM - Edit history (1)

There's a wonderful Intelligence collection in his Law Library maintained by The University of Minnesota for those of US that are what democracy looks like yet find ourselves on various "lists"-Mr. Brennan.

Walter F. Mondale Law Library:
Intelligence (including Church Committee)
http://mondale.law.umn.edu/intelligence.php

on edit: corrected date of Mondale's proposal for Intell. Committees to 1966.

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