He quoted the Director of National Intelligence, Adm. Dennis Blair , as saying that the information gave U.S. officials a "deeper understanding of the al Qaida organization that was attacking this country."
In a statement April 21 , however, Blair said the information "was valuable in some instances" but that "there is no way of knowing whether the same information could have been obtained through other means. The bottom line is that these techniques hurt our image around the world, the damage they have done to our interests far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us and they are not essential to our national security."
This isn't exactly what happened. But the REAL question is why doesn't Obama just release the documents? That would shut down the debate immediately. The damage to the country has already been done when he released the EIT documents. There is no value in hiding the results from the public. Except for "political" value.
However, Blair, who oversees all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, said in his statement that he recommended the release of the memos, "strongly supported" Obama's decision to prohibit using the controversial methods and that "we do not need these techniques to keep America safe."
What a shocker. Blair, an Obama man, is the ONLY former CIA director who has commented positively about what Obama did, and even then, only after revising his remarks after having been more critical.
— Cheney denied that there was any connection between the Bush administration's interrogation policies and the abuse of detainee at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, which he blamed on "a few sadistic guards . . . in violation of American law, military regulations and simple decency."
However, a bipartisan Senate Armed Services Committee report in December traced the abuses at Abu Ghraib to the approval of the techniques by senior Bush administration officials, including former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld .
This is bullshit. Absolute bullshit. Prepared by an Armed Service Committee packed with liberals. Meaningless. |
