Who approved what and when?

Guess who ELSE signed off on the "enhanced " interrogation techiniques? The Attorney General is going to be a busy man.


Admiral Dennis Blair: Congress Approved CIA Interrogations

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 12:07 PM

By: David A. Patten

Before members of Congress rail at the CIA’s coercive interrogation of terrorists, they might want to blame those who authorized the measures in the first place: themselves.

Yes, members of Congress (to include Pelosi) approved the interrogation methods many of them now decry as torture.

That revelation comes from an article posted Wednesday on WeeklyStandard.com by senior writer Stephen F. Hayes, who reveals that Adm. Dennis Blair, President Obama’s national intelligence director, circulated a letter within the intelligence community last week that could prove embarrassing (Have you noticed how often this word is being used to describe actions by Obama?) to both Democrats and the Obama administration.

Blair’s letter reportedly states that members of Congress repeatedly signed off on enhanced interrogation methods such as waterboarding. (They were probably "tricked" by that dummy George Bush again.)

“From 2002 through 2006 when the use of these techniques ended,” Blair wrote, “the leadership of the CIA repeatedly reported their activities both to Executive Branch policymakers and to members of Congress, and received permission to continue to use the techniques."

Blair’s letter was distributed April 16, the same day the president released portions of newly declassified internal memos describing in detail how the interrogations were to be performed.

Obama has been widely criticized by former Vice President Dick Cheney and others for holding back information that shows how successful the enhanced interrogations were in disrupting al-Qaida operations, including attacks against U.S. citizens.

Blair’s letter also stated that coercive interrogation provided “high-value information” and contributed to a better understanding of al-Qaida. An abridged version of Blair’s statement was released to the public, but it did not refer to the program’s success or the authorization from Congress.

Obama has now accomplished what he set out to do - to hamstring our intelligence community more than it was on September 10, 2001. If you were a clandestine operative for the CIA in this environment, what would you do? I know what I would do. I would get out of the business. And you better believe that's what happening. It's not worth it to these patriots to work under the threat of prosecution from their "commander". The Law of Unintended Consequences will once again prove itself. I just wonder how "unintended" it is.