Democrats charged Tuesday that the CIA has released documents about congressional briefings on harsh interrogation techniques in order to deflect attention and blame away from itself.
“I think there is so much embarrassment in some quarters [of the CIA] that people are going to try to shift some of the responsibility to others — that’s what I think,” said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who sat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and was briefed on interrogation techniques five times between 2006 and 2007.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said he finds it “interesting” that a document detailing congressional briefings was released just as “some of the groups that have been responsible for these interrogation techniques were taking the most criticism.”
So a government agency leaks information to make itself look better. No, that couldn’t happen.
LOL, That’s what you get for letting them document it.
http://sadtrombone.com/
Agencies like the CIA and the FBI have been traditionally conservative. Remember the “Stellar” job they had during the Clinton administration? Expect to see more of that during the Obama Administration.
Isn’t there a simple explanation that the Democratic leaders lied about their role in this issue and were exposed lying by the document release? Does that remind us of someone else?
On NO! The CIA is going to expose all of our lies!
LOL
Sounds like an accessory to murderer who got caught with the gun. Yep, they ratted on you but you did commit the crime of doing absolutely nothing to stop their behavior. Put the tiny violins down and resign you cowards.
If everyone is lying lying about everything, does that make everything true? Just reverse who say’s it! right?
I say give the CIA a raise for doing their job and ask congress to STFU.
Well, gee. This wouldn’t have anything to do with Obama releasing heavily edited and handpicked memos on waterboarding, would it?
As I’ve said before, there is a very good reason why Obama said he would not pursue prosecution of those involved.
Those involved…
Feinstein: Maybe we did know about it and did nothing to stop it … “Still, she said that responsibility for the interrogation techniques the CIA used lie with the CIA.”
It’s not like the Congress has any real oversight over the CIA. Those fellas are just out of control cowboys who do whatever they want whenever they want …
Whaddya mean where’d they get the money? They told us torture wouldn’t cost anything! I mean…
This entire situation demonstrates how corrupt politics are. I for one am glad that Obama is president. If one of the usual suspects won, we wouldn’t even be discussing this shit.
The Dems are reponsible for not raising hell about torture.A bunch of cowards.
UPDATE: They are changing their name to CYA.
“The Dems are reponsible for not raising hell about torture.”
Even recognizing that the dems are a bunch of spineless idiots, that has got to be the stupidest thing I have read all week.
True: CIA is out to get us!!
True: CIA briefed congress members on harsh interrogation techniques!!
The purpose of the briefings was for congress to object, if they had the balls to object. They obviously didn’t object.
Does that relieve CIA of responsibility, somewhat.
Did CIA go beyond what it briefed congress members, you bet-ya.
In summary, both CIA and the congress members who were briefed are culpable, but not equally.
So we are going to add 50,000,000 to our health care roles when we know SS, medicare/medicade are going under if something isn’t done.
The guys at the top among the Dems were in the know about the “torture”. They did have the power to stop it and other than using what leaked to attack the Reps they did nothing.
The Dems also thought they could get the underlings to take a bullet they helped fire for doing what said underlings were told to do and many protested was not wise, without said underlings telling what they knew.
The Dems are guilty and they have no right to get away with playing the hypocrite.
Why do I feel like this nation has gone over a cliff and the landing is going to be…note worthy?
What a bunch of effen idiots!!! The leaders of the Intelligence Committees and the leaders and minority members of the Congress were briefed about what was going on. They were sworn to secrecy and could not reveal the briefings even to colleagues, let alone their staff to investigate.
And here we get the idiots like “Ayatollah” singing it is the Democrats fault because they didn’t stop it. The CIA is run and subservient to the President, not Congress. Once Congress passes the budget, the CIA can do whatever the hell they want to with the money.
By the time the Democrats took control of Congress, Bush was saying “we” don’t torture any more.
I just don’t understand why the right wing nuts can’t accept responsibility for what their guy did.
Well, if we hold to Fusions logic, then why tell anyone in Congress at all?
Why have an “Oversight Committee” when they are powerless to do any oversight?
According to Fusions logic, there are no separation of powers because whatever the President says is law.
Following Fusions logic, the President could have been ordering beheadings and strangulations, and the Dems would have to keep this to themselves because they promised to keep it secret. In fact, the Dems would have to continue funding these tortures and murders because they had no choice.
But of course we know this is wrong. We know that Congress has to be appraised of these things, and being sworn to secrecy doesn’t apply if the acts are illegal, as the Dems now insist.
Or we, like Fusion, can be apologist and say “There was nothing we could do! We were powerless! We were just following orders!”
OR, we can follow true reason and logic, and realize Pelosi and company -acting in their legal capacity- could have said “NO. We do not agree with these tortures and we will resist.”
Of course, that would presume they disagreed, which at the time they apparently didn’t.
#15:
“I never knew the Democrats, even if they couldn’t talk the talk, would walk the walk…”
If by ‘walking the walk’ you mean saying, ‘don’t tell me too much about what you’re doing, and I’ll look the other way.’
A Pelosi staffer received a briefing as well, but hey wishful thinking makes for good facts, right?
The briefings were “top secret” only as long as it helped the CIA and the Bush Administration.
While they are releasing documents, I’d like to see some documents backing up Dick Cheney’s claim that torture saves thousands of lives.
Come on! Is anyone really surprised by this? The democrats could not end the harsh questioning during the Bush admin, not because of a secrecy agreement, but because as long as Bush was in power the Dems could use it to beat him over the head with.
What the dems did not count on is the CIA getting pissed, after being threatened with prosecution, and release documents showing that not only dems knew about the questioning, but had an opportunity to do something about it.
That being said, nothing will come of this. Republicans resign after being caught doing something wrong, democrats don’t. Its that simple. The media will ignore this by saying their is no story here, and our apathetic, “take care of me mommy government” public, will care who the next American Idol is more than what their elected officials are doing with their children’s money.
# 22 Mr. Fusion said, in part:
“I just don’t understand why the right wing nuts can’t accept responsibility for what their guy did.”
I wouldn’t want to either, who would?
The problem is the mind-set: to the typical conservative mind, loyalty to the group is the highest good (research bears this out). So even though they KNOW Bush “screwed the pooch” big time, he was THE PRESIDENT, he was The Leader Of The Free World, and they can’t bear to be seen as disloyal by admitting what a disaster his administration was.
As to the CIA, I can totally see them trying to deflect criticism away from themselves and onto the Dems this way, though it seems rather simple-minded and not well executed. Of course Bush and his crowd (Rove, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, etc.) had eight years to install their cronies in all the key spots, and it was always more important to put in their kind of people than to get anyone who was actually capable that it’s no wonder if they’re somewhat ineffectual.
Waaaah the hypocrite politicians are being called out and they’re bitching because they’ve been giving no wiggle room to spin the issue.
Of course many of the higher ups knew about “enhanced interogation techniques” and they either agreed or agree tacitly. It makes them look bad that it’s been revealed (oh no from those nasty CIA agents, we’ll have to cut their budget!). I get why they’re pissed.
On the otherhand this is classic bureaucrats attacking one another. When one agency feels the pinch, it’s time to play the blame game. No one is necessarily interested in doing what’s right for the country; they’re more interested in covering their own butt and pointing the finger just long enough for you and me to forget.
Is it too much to ask for our leaders to be people of character? Yah, I know the answer…
#32, Hello pot, over is the kettle. See its black too.
Hey Mr. Fizzle and Aunt Patsy,
Your pretzel logic is astounding. Go ahead, play the partisan blame game to make you feel better. You reveal yourselves to be boorish fools.
Maybe it’s time to wake up for your dogmatic slumber and hold EVERYONE accountable?
#36:
“They will even regulate how much we breathe…”
Well, they’re going to regulate how much we *exhale*
I believe I know the three people in the picture…the one on the left is a shaved groundhog, the middle one is one of the Living Dead from a Romero movie, and the one on right is a child-eating troll, something like Frodo or Gomo.
i cannot belive some you still fall for this
“Grand Theater”
ffs, SNAP OUT OF IT PEOPLE. -your being played like a fiddle.
sheesh
-s
doh..sp – belive=believe
-s
The right wing apologists remind me of a cartoon I saw many years ago. A factory worker is talking to his boss on an auto assembly line.
“This is your design, your parts, your factory, your tools, your methods, your instructions, your management, and your marketing and dealers; so tell me again, why is this all my fault”?
*
Alphie, did your mother have any kids that lived? Honestly, you emailed Rush Limbaugh and he replied. Once. As if he were a god.