Mike Allen Grants Anonymity to Senior Bush Official to Attack Obama on Release of Torture Memos

[seemslikeadream]

http://themoderatevoice.com/29385/politicos-mike-allen-grants-anonymity-to-senior-bush-official-to-attack-obama-on-release-of-torture-memos/

On the day that the OLC torture memos were released, Politico’s Mike Allen quoted an unnamed Bush official castigating that decision and questioning Obama’s motives.


Here is the quote in full:

A former top official in the administration of President George W. Bush called the publication of the memos “unbelievable.”

“It’s damaging because these are techniques that work, and by Obama’s action today, we are telling the terrorists what they are,” the official said. “We have laid it all out for our enemies. This is totally unnecessary. … Publicizing the techniques does grave damage to our national security by ensuring they can never be used again — even in a ticking-time- bomb scenario where thousands or even millions of American lives are at stake.”

“I don’t believe Obama would intentionally endanger the nation, so it must be that he thinks either 1. the previous administration, including the CIA professionals who have defended this program, is lying about its importance and effectiveness, or 2. he believes we are no longer really at war and no longer face the kind of grave threat to our national security this program has protected against.”

Journalists are under fire as it is for being too quick to agree to public or government officials’ requests for “on background” quoting or sourcing when the reasons are frivolous — such as wanting to avoid accountability or the embarrassment of attaching your name to controversial statements, absent any credible or serious risk to one’s professional life or to one’s physical or personal safety. Here, Mike Allen was permitting a top former Bush official to hide behind anonymity solely to make unsupported claims for the effectiveness of torture and to accuse Pres. Obama of endangering national security and handing secrets to our enemies by declassifying documents that show our government was, indeed, torturing detainees in U.S. custody.

Quite justifiably, jaws dropped:

Allen is allowing a member of the administration that broke the Geneva Conventions and commited war crimes to attack the current president and claim, without any substantiation, that the torture worked. He then allows that “top official” to proclaim things that are at the very least highly questionable. What journalistic standard is Allen following in allowing such a person to speak anonymously?

And how much lower can he sink in craving buzz and traffic?

[democrank]

1. A new low for Mike Allen.

He apparently supports war crimes.

[grasswire]

2. have you ever noticed how Allen's upper lip sweats?

He knows what he's doing. People who do that used to be called "collaborateur."

[stillcool]

3. He's doing his job...

the way his bosses want.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=4899114

Stinky The Clown Fri Jan-23-09 07:31 PM

Politico: True Colors Flying


nc4bo
6. Follow the money with Politico and no one should be shocked.

Politico = The Allbritton Family = Riggs Bank

[DCKit]

4. Written by KKKarl, but delivered by who?

It's a pretty broad defense for everyone involved in promoting war crimes.