{"id":760,"date":"2009-05-18T01:05:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-18T05:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2009\/05\/18\/the-cia-and-speaker-pelosi\/"},"modified":"2009-05-18T01:05:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-18T05:05:00","slug":"the-cia-and-speaker-pelosi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2009\/05\/18\/the-cia-and-speaker-pelosi\/","title":{"rendered":"The CIA and Speaker Pelosi"},"content":{"rendered":"

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has leveled some extraordinary charges at the CIA<\/a>, claiming that America’s primary intelligence agency is lying to the nation’s democratically-elected leaders.<\/p>\n

Here’s the LA Times treatment of her comments:<\/p>\n

“The CIA was misleading the Congress” as part of a broader Bush administration pattern of deception about its activities, said Pelosi (D-San Francisco).<\/p>\n

“The only mention of waterboarding at that briefing was that it was not being employed,” she said, adding, “We now know that earlier, they were.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The accusation has made her the target of conservative critics, some of whom have demanded that she step down.<\/p>\n

And they’re right in a way: Pelosi has some explaining to do.<\/p>\n

But the broader truth is that the CIA has performed abysmally in recent years. In a democratic society, a secretive institution with this kind of track record must be the target of new scrutiny.<\/p>\n

It’s not simply about human rights, morality, or ethics; it’s also about defending America. Consider this track record:<\/p>\n

Our intelligence services had no idea that the Soviet Union was about to disintegrate.<\/p>\n

A great deal of detailed information about the 9\/11 plot was acquired by the CIA in the months before the attack. Because of inter-agency politicking, the hijackers weren’t arrested.<\/p>\n

The CIA was catastrophically wrong about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. CIA director George Tenet told President Bush that finding WMDs would be a “slam dunk.”<\/p>\n

The Agency also aided and abetted the Bush Administration in the establishment of a shadow system of secret prisons, kidnappings and torture.<\/p>\n

Some have quibbled about water-boarding. Is it torture? Is it something else? <\/p>\n

What is certain is that US agents kidnapped civilians — some from U.S. soil — for the express purpose of delivering them to foreign governments who torture detainees as a matter of course.<\/p>\n

We now know that in at least some instances, our agents abducted individuals who were entirely innocent.<\/p>\n

A Canadian named Maher Arar was arrested at JFK airport and shipped to a prison in Syria where he was tortured under our “extraordinary rendition” program.<\/p>\n

Arar was later released without being charged and completely cleared by Canadian authorities.<\/p>\n

Which brings us back to Speaker Pelosi’s claims.<\/p>\n

Her branch of Congress holds primary oversight over America’s secret intelligence-gathering agencies. <\/p>\n

Some of her Democratic colleagues seem to agree that the CIA has been less than truthful. Here again from the LA Times.<\/p>\n

“You have to play 20 questions with them,” said Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Menlo Park). “They are not forthcoming with information.”<\/p>\n

Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas), the chairman of the [intelligence] panel, said he intended to introduce legislation that would impose new standards on what the CIA is required to report to Congress.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That’s not good enough. Nor is it enough to appoint a “truth commission,” as Speaker Pelosi has suggested.<\/p>\n

If the House leadership has reason to believe that the CIA was torturing detainees and then lying about their activities, it is their clear duty to demand a full investigation.<\/p>\n

At the very least, we need Congressional hearings, with subpoena power and the potential for criminal prosecutions.<\/p>\n

There is no principle more important than civilian control of our military and intelligence agencies. <\/p>\n

If the CIA broke the law to conceal heinous behavior, the perpetrators should go to jail.<\/p>\n

Speaker Pelosi’s credibility has already been strained by this controversy.<\/p>\n

It will be strained to the breaking point if she levels such grave charges and then does nothing about them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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