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TechnoratiCIA: We Lied to Congress
The spin held that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as a member of the House Intelligence Committee, had in 2002 been secretly briefed about the use of of harsh interrogation techniques on terror suspects.
Pelosi said the Central Intelligence Agency had failed to inform her about the character and extent of the harsh interrogations.
Pelosi accused the CIA of "misleading the Congress of the United States."
Republican senators screamed.
"It's outrageous that a member of Congress should call a terror-fighter a liar," howled Missouri Senator Kit Bond, the vice chair of the Senate intelligence committee. "It seems the playbook is, blame terror-fighters. We ought to be supporting them."
CIA officials denied lying to Congress and the American people, and that seemed to be that. "Let me be clear: It is not our practice or policy to mislead Congress," said CIA Director Leon Panetta. That is against our laws and values."
But, now, we learn that, in late June, Panetta admitted in secret testimony to Congress that the agency had concealed information and misled lawmakers repeatedly since 2001.
Some of the details of Panetta's testimony are contained in a letter from seven House Democrats to Panetta that was released Wednesday morning.
In the letter, the members (Anna Eshoo of California, Alcee Hastings of Florida, Rush Holt of New Jersey, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Adam Smith of Washington, Mike Thompson of California and John Tierney of Massachusetts) wrote: "Recently you testified that you have determined that top CIA officials have concealed significant actions from all members of Congress, and misled members for a number of years from 2001 to this week."
The letter continued: "In light of your testimony, we ask that you publicly correct your statement of May 15, 2009."
Pelosi's critics are claiming that Panetta's admission does not resolve the debate about whether the speaker was lied to in briefings about harsh interrogations.
What does the CIA say?
That's where things seem to get confusing -- but, as we'll see, not too confusing.
Panetta "stands by his May 15 statement," CIA spokesman George Little claimed after the letter from the House members was released.
The problem is that Little also said: "This agency and this director believe it is vital to keep the Congress fully and currently informed. Director Panetta's actions back that up. As the letter from these ... representatives notes, it was the CIA itself that took the initiative to notify the oversight committees."
So, officially, CIA director Panetta stands by his statement that: "It is not our practice or policy to mislead Congress."
But...
The Panetta's spokesman is seemingly rather proud that "it was the CIA itself that took the initiative to notify the oversight committees" that the agency had in the words of the House members "misled members for a number of years from 2001."
Can we reconcile these statements?
Yes.
Panetta, who has only headed the CIA since February of this year says that "it is not our practice or policy to mislead Congress."
But he tells Congress that it was in fact the consistent practice of the CIA to lie to Congress during the Bush-Cheney years.
So what are we left with?
Perhaps a measure of vindication for Pelosi, but the speaker's wrangling with the Republicans is a distraction from the fundamental revelation.
Far more important is Panetta's reported admission that his agency has "concealed significant actions" and "misled members of Congress."
No matter what anyone thinks of Pelosi or waterboarding, there is a clear case for dramatically expanding congressional oversight of the CIA. Of course, more House and Senate members should have access to briefings. But that ought not be the first response to the latest news.
Step one should be to the bottom of exactly what the CIA was lying about.
Did it have anything to do with the case for invading and occupying Iraq? Afghanistan?
CIA defenders will claim that some secrets must be kept. Perhaps. But the Congress and the American people have a right to know the broad outlines of the deception -- and the extent to which it may have warped, and may continue to warp, U.S. policy.
34 Comments so far
Show AllGuilt is not mutually exclusive; that is, more than one person can bear responsibility for a single act or be guilty of the same count of the same crime.
All this defense by mutual finger-pointing does not establish innocence; it only seeks to intimidate prosecution.
"For we as a people -- we as a people are strong enough; we are brave enough to be told the truth of where we stand. We -- And this country needs honesty and candor in its political life and from the President of the United States.
But I don't want to run for the presidency -- I don't want America to make the critical choice of direction and leadership this year without confronting that truth. I don't want to win support of votes by hiding the American condition in false hopes or illusions.
I want us to find out the promise of the future, what we can accomplish here in the United States, what this country does stand for and what is expected of us in the years ahead. And I also want us to know and examine where we've gone wrong.
And I want all of us, young and old, to have a chance to build a better country and change the direction of the United States of America."
Bobby Kennedy
excerpted from "Recapturing America's Moral Vision"
University of Kansas, 03-18-68
Betcha the CIA helped tio kill him--what do you think?
Poet
I read somewhere that Robert F Kennedy - really had his "moment" of catharsis or "conscience" (considering he too came from a powerful political clan representing the class struggles) - when one day - he was being driven on some official capacity through new york city - and then speeding through rundown neighborhoods in brooklyn - mostly blacks -
he directed the driver to stop and let him step out - he started to talk to the poor people in the streets (while his guards of course were getting antsy) -- and that's when he started to really dig into matters - and that it is where his convictions of his own really began because he said he had "no idea about so much suffering"....i have a feeling that out of this -- his growing friendship with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..
and the potential COMBINATION - led to their deaths. in close proximity even.
that combination - both were speaking about true economic justice - was something that had to be snuffed out.
Poet July 9th, 2009 11:16 pm...........Absolutely no doubt. The CIA follows the orders of international bankers, Wall Street and the shadow government. They do not give a crap about the needs of We the People, except as recipients of the drugs they run. And they answer to no one most of us would recognize.
Another injustice that the Obama administration won't follow through and punish the perpetrator.
"CIA lied to Congress"
No sh!t, Sherlock.
CIA is part of the biggest CRIME SYNDICATE the world has ever seen.
Read below and you will get a picture, which will be extremely hard to swallow, and very painful to digest: “Collateral Damage” by E. P Heidner, part I and II.
>>> www.scribd.com/people/documents/2169400-ep-heidner <<<
The two documents have just recently been published and are very well researched and referenced (over 400 footnotes). The articles are lengthy, some parts not easy to follow and to digest and they need to be read with an open mind. But they are well worth the effort. They provide the most distressing information (some reads like a thriller).
The implications will challenge how we look at politics, economy, history, finance, war and terrorism. Many persons in the documents are well known; many are right now in pivotal positions of politics and finance. These people do shape OUR life and that of our children right now. The details are stunning. The consequences are BEYOND BELIEF.
Knowing this, who would volunteer to give their life for their country?
Die for a lie. Big bucks for a few.
snydly July 9th, 2009 7:44 pm.....No one sane. Then again, they do not want sane beings. And if you are in the beginning, you cannot be in the end. Too bad we cannot ask all those, at the end, who have taken their own lives.
echoes4444 July 9th, 2009 2:30 pm...Having checked the "rediff" link, this has nothing to do with picking up thoughts...has to do with vibrations when one SPEAKS.
Next.
Can we please know what the lies were then? Seems a pretty important detail.
To think that a band of liars, murderers, torturers, assassins, thieves, insurgents, drug smugglers and traitors would lie to the government that employs them... inconceivable.
On a serious note, what do you expect from an agency founded by John Foster Dulles and Prescott Bush (Dubya's grand-daddy), staffed initially by Madison Avenue ad-men trained in propaganda...
Walk in peace.
Hey America;
The world is watching you---and they have begun to finally realize that the USA is a 'remarkable country'---with 'extra-ordinary' people.
'Remarkable' in that you have come as far as you have without interruption by those who should feel threatened--almost daily--of your remarkable hypocrisy, duplicity, and self serving habit of destroying those who you wish to 'feed off of this week'. This is most assuredly changing now.
The world has you by the 'gonads', all they need to do is simply 'cut off your credit lines' and you will devour your selves. Then because you are so heavily armed with 'all kinds of dangerous toys', they will need to 'occupy' you, and 'partition you'---to assure themselves and the world that you never are able to do it again.
"Extra-ordinary people"----in that you are capable of justifying the most horrendous behavior ---'IF'---it is your behavior. The same behavior in others is closely scrutinized, and this is most likely based upon whether those 'other people' are your 'allies' (this week)---if they are, then THEY get the same scrutiny that you give yourself---if they are not your allies--they get the "Nuremberg trials"---along with the 'news coverage'----.
The world cannot possibly tolerate much more of you.
Good Luck america, you really need it.
CIA: We Lied to Congress
Congress: We Lie to Everybody
morty: that was short and sweet and all that needs to be said
"THE USA IS AN EMPIRE...the largest the world has known...and we have gotten away with building this empire through Lies, Torture, blackmail, Assassinations, covert and overt wars, fomenting instabilities in uncooperative countries and then blaming them, ...i was part of the project of empire in south america, asia and the middle east...as an Economic Hitman...our role was to give weaker countries falsified projections for their economy to force them to accept our usurious loans knowing they can not be paid...and then get them to agree to our demands ...if none of these things worked - that's when we send in our CIA "Jackals" -- to "suicide" them... that's what we did to Torrijos, Allende..etc...
if they are too protected -- that's when we send in our Army...that's what you are seeing IN iraq right now...
Our Policies are designed to Render weaker countries PERMANENTLY subjugated to the will of our Chamber of Commerce....
What americans do not really understand is : we are living our lifestyles ONLY because it is PART of a very, very vicious system of exploitation that Dehumanizes and Enslaves people everywhere".
JOHN PERKINS - Former CIA "economic hitman"..
interviews concerning his book "CONFESSIONS of an Economic Hitman".
Is Panetta lying? Probably.
But if Nancy Pelosi's lips are moving you can be sure she is lying.
So how do we abolish the CIA which we need to do?
Regrettably, John F. Kennedy did not break the CIA into "a thousand pieces" before his untimely death.
Rather the opposite, I should say, especially if you count all of the extra pieces yielded from the post-mortem surgeries performed to justify the cover story.
· Yr Obd't Servant
"Life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness";where?If this country is operating from the top down and the top can do no wrong and operate like a "24" episode all the time.This is not representative government and we are slipping further into that fascist pit.Tony
Nichols: "Of course, more House and Senate members should have access to briefings. But that ought not be the first response to the latest news."
On this point I respectfully disagree with Mr. Nichols. In today's New York Times article (reproduced at the top of today's CD offerings, and on which I made a comment), it reports the "related development" that Obama may veto a new bill from Congress that provides just such opportunity for "more House and Senate members...to have access to briefings." This should be a priority concern, in my opinion. The tighter the gang of 8 that gets intelligence briefings is maintained, the easier it is the CIA and the President to control the intelligence information that gets through to the American people. Maybe what Nancy Pelosi knew and when she knew it is a question of more importance to many in this scandal-obsessed country, but I'm personally more interested in the structure of information sharing and concealment that makes possible the Nancy Pelosis of the world.
Excellent Comment!
The CIA still "officially" claims it had no direct involvement with the Coup in Chile. This some 30 years after the event with masses of documents on the matter still kept Classified for issues of National security.
The CIA still "Officialy" claims it had no involvement in Project Ultra wherein mind control experiments were performed on US and Canadian Citizens.
One will never get the truth from the CIA and that NOT because the information damaging to "National Security". You will not get the truth because it a Criminal organization that have committed and continue to commit criminal acts on the peoples of the world including US Citizens.
They do not perform these activities to keep Americans safe or the Country of the USA safe. They perform these Criminal actions because there is money and profits to be made and their activites help keep the worlds most immoral peoples and its greatest thieves and murderers in power.
"Some of the details of Panetta's testimony are contained in a letter from seven House Democrats to Panetta that was released Wednesday morning."
Actually, NONE of the details of Panetta's testimony are contained in that letter. It would be interesting to learn what those details might be.
nichols writes: CIA defenders will claim that some secrets must be kept. Perhaps.
if you believe that, nichols, then where does the rule of accountability come into play? it's far past time for accountability to start being applied to political and governmental cons and it's also time for henchman paneta to be the first to feel the axe in this young and already ruthless regime.
The Secret Service, CIA, FBI, and DIA are all terrorist organizations themselves whose mandates must be removed, their organizations disbanded, all their members discharged and their secrets published for the survival of our nation.
They're covering for Bush and Darth Cheney..they're taking the bullet for 'em.
What? Governments' lie? I'm shocked; SHOCKED!
All governments lie; 'democratic', or pseudo-democratic governments, like ours, lie the most.
Why? Because authoritarian governments don't need to lie. They are free to use overt violence to coerce the public.
'Democratic' governments have to lie to maintain the illusion that they are acting within the law, or in the public interest, or that they are in fact 'democratic'.
Whether the CIA lied to Pelosi about anything doesn't get her off of the Progressive Shit List. Her consitutional failures and her pro-war and zionist stances still make her an irredeemable scumbag.
q
Pelosi may or may not have known about the torture, but she is still on the shit list for "taking impeachment off the table"
We agree from time to time.....this is one of them.
It is clear from Panetta's admission that there is very little real oversight on the military-industrial complex under which we are living. The CIA can hardly be considered a "civilian agency."
I, for one, believe we should dismantle at least some of our intelligence agencies as we dismantle the Department of Homeland Security. We no longer have a government. We have several shadow governments.
The "reader's comments" are always the best part of any CG article and this one is no exception. Funny thing though, you'll find nothing of this on the evening MSM "news."
As long as some member of the Congress is getting a little strange stuff on the side, regardless of who is paying the bill, this is "news." Even your sacred Olbermann and Maddow are hollow sockpuppets mouthing their lines.
Yes, the CIA lied as always....and ditto for "impeachment is off the table" Pelosi.
From what I can tell from the news we get from across the pond the Iranians and the Chinese have a lot more balls than this entire nation.