Pelosi, Democrats accuse CIA of lying to them, withholding information

Little-Acorn

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A pretty serious charge.

I have to wonder now, next time the majority Democrats (including the one in the White House) need intelligence data on whatever enemies are attacking or planning to attack us..... how willing will the CIA be provide facts and informed guesses (which is their main job) on what they have found out? Will they continue to do the most professional job possible, when they know that the people they are helping, will turn on them and accuse them of every crime and malfeasance under the sun for their trouble?

Pelosi seems to be fouling her own nest quite a lot nowadays, as she tries to writhe away from the revelations that she was briefed explicitly on waterboarding that had been done and was currently being done. She had raised no objections at all despite her duty to provide oversight, and has now changed her story several times as each new revelation comes out.

It is clear that she did not consider waterboarding to be the abhorrent thing she now claims, having withheld all objections when it was her turn to speak up. But when she and her fellow congressional Democrats later found they could use the issue to destroy President Bush, it suddenly became "torture" and "something no civilized nation should do".

She and they seem far more interested in destroying their political opponents, than in doing the work Congress is supposed to do to protect our nation.

And these are the people who insist they should be the ones running our country and defending it against all enemies foreign and domestic.

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/200...-pelosis-claim-stop-interrogation-techniques/

Republicans Dispute Pelosi's Claim That She Couldn't Stop Interrogation Techniques

Republicans say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could have done a number of things to protest the CIA's program of enhanced interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects.

FOXNews.com
Thursday, May 14, 2009

Under strong attack from Republicans, Pelosi accused the CIA and Bush Administration of misleading her about waterboarding detainees in the war on terror and sharply rebutted claims she was complicit in the method's use. (AP)

Republicans said they were stunned Thursday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's claim that she was powerless as minority leader to intervene in the CIA's "enhanced interrogation techniques" used on terrorism suspects.

Earlier in the day, Pelosi told reporters that the CIA misled Congress on its activities, but she protested that she knew that any complaints by her about the use of waterboarding and other harsh tactics would fall on deaf ears.

Pelosi said in her weekly news conference that she supported a letter drafted in February 2003 by Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif. -- the new ranking Democrat on the House intelligence panel who attended a briefing that month that included discussions on waterboarding -- and sent to the Bush administration, raising concerns over the program.

Harman was the "appropriate person to register a protest," Pelosi said

"But no letter or anything else is going to stop them from doing what they're going to do," she added.

Not so, said Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee. "As a member of the Gang of Four, if the CIA proposes to do something that we think is wrong, we can do something about it. We've done something about," he said.

The so-called "Gang of Four" refers to the four members of Congress who serve in the chairman and vice chairman spots on the Senate and House Intelligence Committees. In 2002, that group included Sens. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Reps. Porter Goss, R-Fla, and Pelosi, D-Calif.

Bond said that as minority leader, Pelosi could have used a number of legislative tools to block the program, including using the Constitution's Speech and Debate clause, which protects lawmakers who wish to speak on the House floor on sensitive issues. She could also have insisted that other members be briefed on interrogation techniques; moved to cut CIA funds; insisted Congress go into closed session, like during Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and Patriot Act revisions; or sought revisions to the National Security Act to change congressional notification requirements.

"So there's no excuse to say, 'I was powerless,'" Bond said.


(Full text of the article can be read at the above URL)
 
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A pretty serious charge.

I have to wonder now, next time the majority Democrats (including the one in the White House) need intelligence data on whatever enemies are attacking or planning to attack us..... how willing will the CIA be provide facts and informed guesses (which is their main job) on what they have found out? Will they continue to do the most professional job possible, when they know that the people they are helping, will turn on them and accuse them of every crime and malfeasance under the sun for their trouble?
Their Charter directs them to gather intelligence, ONLY!!!!

"While the CIA has yet to take heat for these abuses, intelligence failures about the 9/11 plot and WMDs in Iraq have produced some discussion about how US intelligence agencies might be reformed. The release of two reports about the CIA, as well as the report from the 9-11 Commission report, further ratcheted up such talk. The resignation of George Tenet also amplified mainstream calls for reform. But current prescriptions tend to call only for the reshuffling of certain administrative responsibilities and for bureaucratic shifts to allow for greater coordination between agencies like the CIA, the FBI and the military intelligence bureaus. Such changes will not deal with the core, historic problems: lack of oversight, the politicization of intelligence, and the use of covert operations by the executive for immoral purposes."

The CIA HAS no option to expand their operations!!! (....And, blaming the Obama Admin is more evidence of "conservative"-desperation. :rolleyes: )​
 
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A pretty serious charge.

I have to wonder now, next time the majority Democrats (including the one in the White House) need intelligence data on whatever enemies are attacking or planning to attack us..... how willing will the CIA be provide facts and informed guesses (which is their main job) on what they have found out? Will they continue to do the most professional job possible, when they know that the people they are helping, will turn on them and accuse them of every crime and malfeasance under the sun for their trouble?

In a nutshell, the CIA's purpose is to "collect, evaluate and disseminate foreign intelligence. Additionally, they are purposed to "engage in covert action at the president's direction." Although the informed guesses may be a bit of an over-generalization, it's essentially true in the aspect of EVALUATING.

There have been the notorious problems of translators, timeliness and inter-agency communication. The CIA is as bureaucratic as any federal government agency. That said, I'm confident that the CIA corporately and the individuals within it will continue to strive for the most complete and accurate results possible. A self-serving, pompous Speaker will not affect them.

I'm more concerned about what this says to the American people. Actually, one of two things: 1) Ms Pelosi, if you were ignorant in your proscribed duties what the heck kind of leadership is there in Congress?, or 2) If the CIA lied to you, and to others, and did so consistently and prolifically, what does that do to the public trust of our intelligence organizations?

Pelosi seems to be fouling her own nest quite a lot nowadays, as she tries to writhe away from the revelations that she was briefed explicitly on waterboarding that had been done and was currently being done. She had raised no objections at all despite her duty to provide oversight, and has now changed her story several times as each new revelation comes out.

That's why it's always best to use the truth as your answer. You don't need to worry about those pesky details.

It is clear that she did not consider waterboarding to be the abhorrent thing she now claims, having withheld all objections when it was her turn to speak up. But when she and her fellow congressional Democrats later found they could use the issue to destroy President Bush, it suddenly became "torture" and "something no civilized nation should do".

She and they seem far more interested in destroying their political opponents, than in doing the work Congress is supposed to do to protect our nation.

Right. It's not that she did not consider water-boarding as necessarily a bad thing. It's more that she didn't realize what how some very vocal protesters were going to define the debate. And redefine "torture".

And these are the people who insist they should be the ones running our country and defending it against all enemies foreign and domestic.

Again, the unstated problem: THEY are the domestic enemy we need to be defended from... The lunatics are running the asylum.
 
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