Posted by Paul Cassell:
CIA Chief Criticizes Pelosi:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_05_10-2009_05_16.shtml#1242430924
CIA Director Leon Panetta sent this message to CIA employees today. It
directly rebuts claims from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the CIA
provided misleading information to Congress:
There is a long tradition in Washington of making political hay out
of our business. It predates my service with this great
institution, and it will be around long after I�m gone. But the
political debates about interrogation reached a new decibel level
yesterday when the CIA was accused of misleading Congress.
Let me be clear: It is not our policy or practice to mislead
Congress. That is against our laws and our values. As the Agency
indicated previously in response to Congressional inquiries, our
contemporaneous records from September 2002 indicate that CIA
officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah,
describing �the enhanced techniques that had been employed.�
Ultimately, it is up to Congress to evaluate all the evidence and
reach its own conclusions about what happened.
My advice�indeed, my direction�to you is straightforward: ignore
the noise and stay focused on your mission. We have too much work
to do to be distracted from our job of protecting this country.
We are an Agency of high integrity, professionalism, and
dedication. Our task is to tell it like it is�even if that�s not
what people always want to hear. Keep it up. Our national security
depends on it.
Sounds like the Speaker's claims of being "misled" are getting a dim
reception at the CIA. And the Speaker's claims don't make any sense at
all, as shown by [1]this clever dissection by Tom Smith over at The
Right Coast.
References
1.
http://rightcoast.typepad.com/rightcoast/2009/05/test-your-iq-can-you-figure-out-speaker-pelosis-story-tom-smith-.html
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