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TechnoratiDisclosure of ‘Secrets’ in the '70s Didn’t Destroy the Nation
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, just released a 262-page report titled "Inquiry Into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody." Levin said the report "represents a condemnation of both the Bush administration's interrogation policies and of senior administration officials who attempted to shift the blame for abuse ... to low-ranking soldiers. Claims ... that detainee abuses could be chalked up to the unauthorized acts of a ‘few bad apples' were simply false." Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., also are proposing investigations.
The Senate interest in investigation has backers in the U.S. House, from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers, D-Mich., who told The Huffington Post recently, "We're coming after these guys."
Amrit Singh, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the Pentagon's photos "provide visual proof that prisoner abuse by U.S. personnel was not aberrational but widespread, reaching far beyond the walls of Abu Ghraib. Their disclosure is critical for helping the public understand the scope and scale of prisoner abuse as well as for holding senior officials accountable for authorizing or permitting such abuse." The ACLU also won a ruling to obtain documents relating to the CIA's destruction of 92 videotapes of harsh interrogations. The tapes are gone, supposedly, but notes about the content of the tapes remain, and a federal judge has ordered their release.
In December 2002, when the Bush torture program was well under way, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld signed off on a series of harsh interrogation techniques described in a memo written by William Hayes II (one of the "Bush Six" being investigated by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon). At the bottom of the memo, under his signature, Rumsfeld scrawled: "I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to 4 hours?" Rumsfeld zealously classified information in his years in government.
A similar crisis confronted the U.S. public in the mid-1970s. While the Watergate scandal was unfolding, widespread evidence was mounting of illegal government activity, including domestic spying and the infiltration and disruption of legal political groups, mostly anti-war groups, in a broad-based, secret government crackdown on dissent. In response, the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations With Respect to Intelligence Activities was formed. It came to be known as the Church Committee, named after its chairman, Idaho Democratic Sen. Frank Church. The Church Committee documented and exposed extraordinary activities on the CIA and FBI, such as CIA efforts to assassinate foreign leaders, and the FBI's COINTELPRO (counterintelligence) program, which extensively spied on prominent leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
It is not only the practices that are similar, but the people. Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr., general counsel to the Church Committee, noted two people who were active in the Ford White House and attempted to block the committee's work: "Rumsfeld and then [Dick] Cheney were people who felt that nothing should be known about these secret operations, and there should be as much disruption as possible."
Church's widow, Bethine Church, now 86, continues to be very politically active in Idaho. She was so active in Washington in the 1970s that she was known as "Idaho's third senator." She said there needs to be a similar investigation today: "When you think of all the things that the Church Committee tried to straighten out and when you think of the terrific secrecy that Cheney and all of these people dealt with, they were always secretive about everything, and they didn't want anything known. I think people have to know what went on. And that's why I think an independent committee [is needed], outside of the Congress, that just looked at the whole problem and everything that happened."
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
23 Comments so far
Show AllFORD BLOCKING INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE CIA? Imagine that. Interesting that Amy forgets to mention the number one Target of these congressional investigations, the JFK assassination. Oh I forgot, this was all invented on the X-files! JUST SO FOUNDATION FUNDED ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''LEFTISTS'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' MAKE IT SEEM!
Please read JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters, or people will remain thinking that the Presidents Chosen by Wolf Blitzer will change everything, and we-- as a species will devlove into quivering lime Jello, and not even cold quiverin
Then the CIA got rid of almost all the real oversite senators in the 1980 election. They also did not appreciate former CIA director Colby's partial cooperation with the Pike n Church. As a result he may have been murdered in the 1996 canoing accident in Maryland. The dude was scared of water.
Wacky diversionary conspiracy theory?
Well John Prados supports this view. He writes virtually all of the Intelligence reviews for the American Historical Review. NO MATTER AMY JUST CALL IT A WACKY CONSPIRACY THEORY, OR YOUR FUNDING WILL BE CUT!
Please read JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters, or people will remain thinking that the Presidents Chosen by Wolf Blitzer will change everything, and we-- as a species will devlove into quivering lime Jello, and not even cold quiverin
4 docs and counting? -- Obama's thrown us a pretty small bone. Better than Bush is not good enough. We need prosecutions on other issues, too -- the fraud and murder getting us into Iraq to begin with.
Double double talk. Or is it triple talk once removed?
It won't change until people are willing to vote outside of the 2 party system, and then they will see what they are really up against as the corporate elite and their military forces evoke martial law (think China or the former Soviet Union).
Both the democrats and republicans put winning ahead of principle. See how no one complained when Kucinich and Mike Gravel were excluded from publicly run presidential debates.
And you think that this current government will deliver justice? They are the criminals. Mouthing empty platitudes may look good in the press but the bottom line is that we are just watching the latest version of betrayal and injustice against the American people and the planet.
so it goes
www.NotOneMore.US
Everyone is assuming that our children and our grandchildren will even honor this debt. I for one hope my daughter gets to vote and have a "jubilee" for the debts left to her generation by the last 30 yrs of mismanagement.
AmeriKKKa getting away with torture, no big surorise they have been murdering women & children in their illegal WHITE CORPORATE WARS for years no biggy
Sioux Rose
Will they (the ones to be arrested) understand their rights read to them in Spanish?
Conyers plays both sides of everything. The Pentagon is delying release for a reason which in and of itelf is an intolerable act. Nothing will come of any of this-sadly. Law is bogus.
There may be a 5 year statute of limitations (John Dean on Thom Hartmann 2 days ago) re war crimes. There is no statute for murder or manslaughter, but for that individual deaths must be proved related to torture beforehand. Ergo the delay methinks.
Legislators speak and do nothing. I call and demand knowing the result beforehand. Don't know how Amy does her work everyday. Struggle on.
You need to realize the Bush-Cheney-Rummy actions did not rise to the level of prosecutable crimes or impeachment proceedings. For those, it takes a little sex play in the White House or breaking into the other parties headquarters like that terrible pair, Clinton & Nixon. Besides, we do not have time for that as now we suddenly have to worry about our kids and grandkids paying off the debt that Obama has built up in just 4 months.
Your comment made me think. Isn't there something in the Bible about the sins of the fathers being passed unto the seventh generation, or to that effect? It is going to take more than seven generations to clear the books on the the last decade or so of theft and greed.
Seven generations is roughly 175 years. The human race may not even be around by then. But the debt will still be unpaid. This country will die heavily in debt, if not flat broke.
while we're digging dirt, let's find out the connection of cheney's secret energy task force meetings to 9/11 and war and torture and price fixing/gouging at the pumps and the destruction of the world's economy.
we allowed, for more than eight years, the devil in disguise to ruin us. now, it's payback. don't forget your pitchfork. dick.
It seems to me that we don't need any more Truth Commissions, Special Prosecuters, or Congressional Hearings. There's already PLENTY of evidence out there right now. Hell, dick Cheney has even come right out and admitted to it.
Send out the US Marshalls NOW. Arrest Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, et al. before they take off for Dubai. Let's have a real trial, Nuremburg style. Put these SOB's away for good!
I agree totally. The law is in place and all law enforcement officers are empowered to arrest these criminals. Even the Secret Service who are tasked with the job of protecting them have the obligation of arresting Bush and Cheney.
michael jordan
http://sites.google.com/site/apolloguide/
John Conyers, D-Mich., who told The Huffington Post recently, "We're coming after these guys."
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They're shakin' in their boots now, lol !
Still waiting for the impeachment proceedings of Bush and Cheney for lying us into Iraq, John.
Oh yeah, you couldn't go through with those because you're afraid of Fox News!
What part of Nancy Pelosi's November 2006 declaration that "impeachment is off the table" did you not understand ????
Obama and Pelosi are equally restrained by the DNC.
Conyers became head of the Judiciary Committee in the House when the Democrats gained power in 2006. He made repeated statements that there would be investigations of the lies that sent us to Iraq. I followed his ramblings day-after-day at Afterdowningstreet dot org.
Quite obviously Conyers strung us along to buy time until Bush's term ended.
I won't be fooled again.
Ahhh, yes. The war criminals are trembling with fear of receiving a letter from Conyers expressing his 'disappointment' with them.
with spineless cowards like Conyers, is it any wonder the Bush/Cheney war criminals have no fear?
The only reason the many crimes were repeated is that no one in a high position actually suffered any punishment from their many crimes.
It simply opened the door for many of the same old players----to play many of the same old "games". The likelihood that they are all still laughing and smirking at the American people is very high---simply because the corruption goes so high that only the "little players" will fear anything---and they can count on being "pardoned" in most cases if they stay quiet now.
The irony is that the arrogance that America blatantly reveals may very soon be turned upon them, unless they make some major changes very soon
The world cannot tolerate America much longer and then America's days will be numbered.
It really is that simple.
Good Luck America, you really need it.
Nancy (accessory to torture and spying who stutters and stammers worse than Bob Newhart in the Winter cold whenever anybody says the word investigation) Pelosi is coming after 'em too!
How will the bad guys sleep at night!