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C.I.A. Chiefs Ask Obama to Stop Abuse Inquiry
nytimes ^ | Today | PETER BAKER

Posted on 09/19/2009 8:47:51 AM PDT by jessduntno

C.I.A. Chiefs Ask Obama to Stop Abuse Inquiry

WASHINGTON — Seven former directors of the Central Intelligence Agency asked President Obama on Friday to shut down the new Justice Department inquiry into past abuses during interrogations of terrorism suspects, arguing that it “will seriously damage” the nation’s ability to protect itself.

In a letter to Mr. Obama, the former C.I.A. chiefs said the cases under study had already been examined by career prosecutors who found that no criminal charges were warranted. To reopen cases based on a change in which political party controls the government, they wrote, will make it harder for intelligence officers to take risks without worrying that some future attorney general might investigate them.

“Those men and women who undertake difficult intelligence assignments in the aftermath of an attack such as September 11 must believe there is permanence in the legal rules that govern their actions,” the men said in their letter.

They argued that the new inquiry would result in the disclosure of information about past operations that “can only help Al Qaeda” elude capture, and would convince foreign intelligence agencies that they could not trust the United States to protect secrets.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. assigned a career prosecutor, John H. Durham, to look into the cases last month after concluding that intelligence agents might have gone beyond the legal guidance they were given during the Bush administration. Although Mr. Obama had expressed a desire to move on and not dwell on the past, he left the decision to Mr. Holder.

Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said the department “will not prosecute anyone who acted in good faith and within the scope of the legal guidance given by the Office of Legal Counsel regarding the interrogation of detainees.”

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bhocia; bhodoj; ciaprobe; intelligence
The letter to Mr. Obama was signed by Michael V. Hayden and Porter J. Goss, who served under President George W. Bush; George J. Tenet, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton and kept on by Mr. Bush; John M. Deutch and R. James Woolsey, who served under Mr. Clinton; William H. Webster, who served under President Ronald Reagan and the first President George Bush; and James R. Schlesinger, who served under President Richard M. Nixon.

There is no editorializing in this story from the Times...I find that encouraging...

1 posted on 09/19/2009 8:47:52 AM PDT by jessduntno
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To: jessduntno

The beauty of the English language: Why ‘fat chance’ and ‘slim chance’ mean the same thing.


2 posted on 09/19/2009 8:50:23 AM PDT by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
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To: jessduntno

Obama’s next move will be to apologize for 911 and pay reparations to Al Qaeda for making them wear panties on their head.


3 posted on 09/19/2009 8:53:53 AM PDT by BigFinn (Obamanation then Obamaggedon.)
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To: jessduntno

Let’s not forget that it was 3 changes by Slick Willy (who gave missile-guidance technology to the ChiComs) that enabled 9/11:

1. He shut down the process of using as informants anyone who may have committed civil-rights abuses in the past. “Snitches” are generally former operatives or scumbag opportunists willing to betray for money. MOST have committed some type of civil-rights abuses.

2. He refocused the efforts of the CIA and FBI FROM new terrorist investigation TO investigated PAST interrogations to ensure no civil rights were violated in the past.

3. He shut down (through Gorelick who then led the committee to investigate and condemn the lack of intelligence) the sharing of information between the various intelligence agencies, thereby eliminating communication and destroying the possibility of cross-point interaction among the subjects they were investigating.

These three changes effectively castrated the ability of our intelligence agencies to do their job: protecting America and Americans from attack.

Looks like the ACORN nut didn’t fall far from the Communist Tree.


4 posted on 09/19/2009 8:54:28 AM PDT by Ghost of Philip Marlowe (I'd rather be a teabagger than an ankle-grabber.)
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To: jessduntno
I think the C.I.A. is taking notice that the citizens are also crying out to stop this witch hunt and are taking notice that even the citizens know this will only hurt the USA's ability to protect out nation...

THANK YOU !!! C.I.A ... for stepping up to the plate and listened to us citizens and have a sense of what is right, and see the need to stop this before if effects our nation's ability to protect it's self.
5 posted on 09/19/2009 8:55:32 AM PDT by American Constitutionalist (There is no civility in the way the Communist/Marxist want to destroy the USA)
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To: jessduntno
arguing that it “will seriously damage” the nation...

Sounds like rationale for -7bama to redouble his efforts and intensify the investigations.

6 posted on 09/19/2009 8:55:35 AM PDT by C210N (A patriot for a Conservative Renaissance!)
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To: jessduntno

I am sure ZerO has forwarded this letter to Holder to add to the list to be investigated.


7 posted on 09/19/2009 9:01:15 AM PDT by depressed in 06 (Idiotcracy has arrived 400 years early.)
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To: jessduntno

Surely, the CIA has collections of ‘dirt’ on the Trojan Muslin:-()

I suggest its time to release IT, now:-)


8 posted on 09/19/2009 9:02:56 AM PDT by geo40xyz (BE PREPARED: Geo The Engineer so smart, he doesn't need a TelePrompter to speak. Unlike the AH:-))
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To: geo40xyz

“I suggest its time to release IT, now:-)”

Or at least the threat of “IT”


9 posted on 09/19/2009 9:10:16 AM PDT by jessduntno ("Integrity is the lifeblood of democracy. Deceit is a poison in it." - Ted Kennedy (D-HELL)
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To: jessduntno

“will seriously damage” the nation’s ability to protect itself.

Gotta love that Obama, doing the best he can to make America vulnerable hoping for the destruction of what took 233 years to build.
Last week, he unilaterally dismissed the greatest single defense of europe and our allies by reneging on the missile shield.
The fool did not contemplate the efforts by both previous administrations as well as the host/ allied nations. NO political savy.
Just how can I screw America again? Is there another way I overlooked?

His tampering with the CIA is just another example of him bringing down America... Treasonous I tell you


10 posted on 09/19/2009 9:14:04 AM PDT by himno hero
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To: himno hero
His tampering with the CIA is just another example of him bringing down America... Treasonous I tell you

How many millions can we put into DC on April 15th? Of course, it might be an armed city by then and we have to fight our way in...

11 posted on 09/19/2009 9:17:44 AM PDT by jessduntno ("Integrity is the lifeblood of democracy. Deceit is a poison in it." - Ted Kennedy (D-HELL)
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To: jessduntno

Lay a paper trail:

” We warned him and he ignored us.”


12 posted on 09/19/2009 9:27:47 AM PDT by TET1968 (SI MINOR PLUS EST ERGO NIHIL SUNT OMNIA)
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To: geo40xyz

It’s being released...Chinese style...a drop at a time.


13 posted on 09/19/2009 9:30:33 AM PDT by TET1968 (SI MINOR PLUS EST ERGO NIHIL SUNT OMNIA)
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To: jessduntno
King Obama doesn't give a sh!!. His objective is to reduce Americans to poor equal slaves and then rebuild America into a dictatorship.
14 posted on 09/19/2009 10:09:30 AM PDT by Logical me (Oh, well!!!)
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To: jessduntno


15 posted on 09/19/2009 10:23:11 AM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist *DTOM* -ww- I AM JIM THOMPSON!)
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