Cheney, Rice signed off on harsh techniques

[Bozita]

Source: McClatchy

Cheney, Rice signed off on harsh techniques
BY MARGARET TALEV • MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS • APRIL 23, 2009


WASHINGTON — A newly declassified narrative of the Bush administration’s advice to the CIA on harsh interrogations shows that the small group of Justice Department lawyers who wrote memos authorizing controversial interrogation techniques were operating not on their own but with direction from top administration officials, including then-Vice President Dick Cheney and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

At the same time, the narrative suggests that then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and then-Secretary of State Colin Powell were largely left out of the decision-making process.

The narrative, posted Wednesday on the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Web site and released by its former chairman, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., came as Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that he would “follow the evidence wherever it takes us” in deciding whether to prosecute any Bush administration officials who authorized harsh techniques that are widely considered torture.

In a statement accompanying the narrative’s release, Rockefeller said the task of declassifying interrogation and detention opinions “is not complete” and urged prompt declassification of other opinions from 2006 and 2007 that he said would show how Bush Justice Department officials interpreted laws governing torture and war crimes.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20090423/NEWS15/90422112

[Beetwasher]

1. Wheeee! Prosecutions Are Coming!

n/t

[HereSince1628]

2. Or maybe, prosecutions are possibly coming.

We are dealing with folks inside the Beltway. You can't be sure of much other that whatever is done will be done at taxpayer expense.

[Beetwasher]

5. I Know, I'm Infected W/ Hope!

:evilgrin:

Obviously, nothings a given, but I really think I'm seeing something happening here.

[noonwitch]

20. It's time to appoint a special counsel

DOJ will just be accused of bias.

[Bozita]

3. Zelikow was on with Rachel on Tuesday. He sounded like he was giving cover to Condi.

All of a sudden, his appearance seems to make sense.

[mikelgb]

16. Yep, Zeilikow's appearance was pure Condi cya....

definitely blood on those fucking hands

[thewiseguy]

4. Why would Rumsfeld be left out of the loop?

[Soylent Brice]

6. why did he get swept aside after the first term?

regime change, maybe rummy disagreed to an extent (pure speculation of course.)

he seems to have been pretty chummy with the bad guys in the past...



:shrug:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

19. Um, no.

Rumsfeld: Architect of torture
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/04/22/madden/


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS286&q=rumsfeld+approves+torture&btnG=Search

[Soylent Brice]

22. from the rummy expert. thanks for the links!

again, pure speculation. lot of questions, and seemingly infinite answers.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

23. Rummy is guilty,

Not speculation.

[Soylent Brice]

25. agreed

i think the question at hand was, why would he be left out of the loop.

as to to why the bush cabal would leave him out of the loop is a good question. one can only wonder was all i was merely implying.

but there's certainly no doubt he's involved/responsible/etc.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

26. The complete absence of Rummy is disquieting.

[Overseas]

7. harsh techniques a.k.a. aggressive tactics a.k.a. torture

And we now know that torture was discussed when Cheney was trying desperately to create links between Iraq and Al Qaeda, even though they knew as we knew that Bin Laden hated Sadaam Hussein.

And all the pushing of war with Iraq puzzled me because as liberals when we were complaining about US support for Sadaam in the 80's, we were told it was necessary to keep Iran in check. Why then would the Cheney administration be trying to destroy Iran's biggest enemy? Must be that clip we have of Cheney talking about their huge oil reserves.

But how dare they then stir up great fear of Iran, to the point of encouraging military action against them? If Iran is such a danger, why did the Cheney administration start a war of choice to destroy their strongest enemy in the region? Did the armchair warriors of the Cheney group decide that we could go destroy Iran too and thus secure the rights to all the major middle eastern oil reserves?

Maybe that will be their Hail Mary defense-- we know the world is running out of oil, so we did our best to secure the oil needed to keep the US economy strong. Too bad they ignited the Bush Depression that destroyed our economy before they left office with their fanatical deregulation.

[TheCoxwain]

8. Senate report: Rice, Cheney OK'd CIA use of waterboarding

Source: CNN

Top Bush administration officials gave the CIA approval to use waterboarding, a controversial interrogation technique, as early as 2002, a Senate intelligence report shows.

In a meeting that included Vice President Dick Cheney, CIA Director George Tenet, Ashcroft, Rice and their legal counsels, "the principals reaffirmed that the CIA program was lawful and reflected administration policy," the report said.

President Obama has called waterboarding -- which simulates drowning -- torture and last week released a series of Bush-era memos on interrogation tactics.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/23/cheney.rice.waterboarding/index.html

---

Smoking gun takes on a new meaning

[Iliyah]

9. No wonder

the GOP are running scared right now. No surprise about Rice & Cheney nor any of the crime family of the Bushies. That said, I believe they truly believed that they were protecting their own greedy interest, oops I mean, the interest of the American people.

[indimuse]

10. And THAT Mushroom Cloud..

is NOW...over THEIR head! ha!



:kick::kick::kick:

[indimuse]

11. oh,yeah..

Rec'd!

[Uben]

12. Okay, we have our winners!

Condi and Dick, you two have won a fabulous vacation to the Hague in the Netherlands! You will have accommodations in a wonderful old-architecture building, complete with striped suits and a medevil ball and chain. Your 20 yr stay there will be highlighted by morning walks around the cell block for one hour and two meals a day consisting of a liquid and ...uh...something else!

Congrats!

[stop the bleeding]

13. I wish. nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. Jees...no wonder Condi always sounded so tight voiced and nervous.

By the way...where is she now and should she be doing whatever it is she is doing?

[ixion]

15. even in the face of undeniable fact, CNN spins what they can...

- "a controversial interrogation technique" i.e. TORTURE.

- "President Obama has called waterboarding torture." Wrong. It's been common knowledge that it was torture. Obama didn't 'call' (i.e. "make it up") it torture.

And as long as we're on the subject, can we hold the MSM as accountable as the rest? Because it's crap reporting -- disingenuous reporting -- like this that has paved the way.

[bushmeister0]

17. Do you recall the title of that memo, Secretary Rice?

Rice: First let me just make certain - . . .

Well, first - I understand, Commissioner . . .

But it's important that I also address - It's also important, Commissioner, that I address the other issues that you've raised. So I will do it quickly. But if you'll just give me moment . . .

I understand, Commissioner, but I will, if you'll just give me a moment, I will address fully the questions that you've asked . . .

Commisioner: WHAT WAS THE TITLE OF THE MEMO!!!!!

Rice: Sir, I believe the title of the memo was "Cheney determined to take the United States to the Dark Side."

[conspirator]

21. Don't use the word recall, or she might alberto gonzales her way out of it nt

[GeorgeGist]

18. They dare not call it torture.

[gratuitous]

24. Cheney and Rice? Not The Decider?

My, my, my. Was Dubya doing anything while his keister was parked in the Oval Office?

[No Elephants]

27. What is this "harsh techniques" bulldoo the MSM has adopted? They signed off on torture, period.