SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Brennan Considering CIA Agent Who Destroyed Torture Tapes for Key Position
Anonymous agent implicated in 2005 torture tapes scandal will likely be kept as top official
Mar 27, 2013
A yet to be named woman within the CIA, who signed off on a 2005 decision to destroy videotapes of prisoners being subjected to torture, has recently been placed in charge of the CIA's clandestine services, according to the Washington Post, leaving new CIA Chief John Brennan with the decision of whether or not to keep her there.
Brennan's nomination as CIA director has been mired in controversy over the shadowy nature of the CIA's targeted killing drone program, largely designed by Brennan himself, and over Brennan's role as a senior CIA official when the agency instituted the use of water-boarding and other torture methods in the post 9/11 era.
"The question of whether to give her the job permanently poses an early quandary for Brennan, who is already struggling to distance the agency from the decade-old controversies," the Post reports Wednesday.
Subsequently, Brennan is thought to be making this appointment with particular caution, so as to avoid any political fallout related to keeping within the CIA the major players of the Bush era torture programs.
The Post writes:
To help navigate the sensitive decision on the clandestine service chief, Brennan has taken the unusual step of assembling a group of three former CIA officials to evaluate the candidates. Brennan announced the move in a previously undisclosed notice sent to CIA employees last week, officials said.
"The director of the clandestine service has never been picked that way," said a former senior U.S. intelligence official.
The move has led to speculation that Brennan is seeking political cover for a decision made more difficult by the re-emergence of the interrogation controversy and the acting chief's ties to that program.
The undercover agent in question served in a senior position at the CIA's Counterterrorism Center following the September 11th attacks, and was a key player in the Rendition, Detention and Interrogation program (RDI).
As Kevin Gosztola at FireDogLake reports, "The woman clearly engaged in obstruction of evidence," through the desctruction of CIA torture tapes. "The Justice Department brought no charges against any officers in the agency. Because the Justice Department chose not to pursue accountability, it is likely she will remain as head of the clandestine service."
Read more about the 2005 torture tapes scandal at FireDogLake.
Read the Washington Post's coverage here.
_______________________________________
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
A yet to be named woman within the CIA, who signed off on a 2005 decision to destroy videotapes of prisoners being subjected to torture, has recently been placed in charge of the CIA's clandestine services, according to the Washington Post, leaving new CIA Chief John Brennan with the decision of whether or not to keep her there.
Brennan's nomination as CIA director has been mired in controversy over the shadowy nature of the CIA's targeted killing drone program, largely designed by Brennan himself, and over Brennan's role as a senior CIA official when the agency instituted the use of water-boarding and other torture methods in the post 9/11 era.
"The question of whether to give her the job permanently poses an early quandary for Brennan, who is already struggling to distance the agency from the decade-old controversies," the Post reports Wednesday.
Subsequently, Brennan is thought to be making this appointment with particular caution, so as to avoid any political fallout related to keeping within the CIA the major players of the Bush era torture programs.
The Post writes:
To help navigate the sensitive decision on the clandestine service chief, Brennan has taken the unusual step of assembling a group of three former CIA officials to evaluate the candidates. Brennan announced the move in a previously undisclosed notice sent to CIA employees last week, officials said.
"The director of the clandestine service has never been picked that way," said a former senior U.S. intelligence official.
The move has led to speculation that Brennan is seeking political cover for a decision made more difficult by the re-emergence of the interrogation controversy and the acting chief's ties to that program.
The undercover agent in question served in a senior position at the CIA's Counterterrorism Center following the September 11th attacks, and was a key player in the Rendition, Detention and Interrogation program (RDI).
As Kevin Gosztola at FireDogLake reports, "The woman clearly engaged in obstruction of evidence," through the desctruction of CIA torture tapes. "The Justice Department brought no charges against any officers in the agency. Because the Justice Department chose not to pursue accountability, it is likely she will remain as head of the clandestine service."
Read more about the 2005 torture tapes scandal at FireDogLake.
Read the Washington Post's coverage here.
_______________________________________
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
A yet to be named woman within the CIA, who signed off on a 2005 decision to destroy videotapes of prisoners being subjected to torture, has recently been placed in charge of the CIA's clandestine services, according to the Washington Post, leaving new CIA Chief John Brennan with the decision of whether or not to keep her there.
Brennan's nomination as CIA director has been mired in controversy over the shadowy nature of the CIA's targeted killing drone program, largely designed by Brennan himself, and over Brennan's role as a senior CIA official when the agency instituted the use of water-boarding and other torture methods in the post 9/11 era.
"The question of whether to give her the job permanently poses an early quandary for Brennan, who is already struggling to distance the agency from the decade-old controversies," the Post reports Wednesday.
Subsequently, Brennan is thought to be making this appointment with particular caution, so as to avoid any political fallout related to keeping within the CIA the major players of the Bush era torture programs.
The Post writes:
To help navigate the sensitive decision on the clandestine service chief, Brennan has taken the unusual step of assembling a group of three former CIA officials to evaluate the candidates. Brennan announced the move in a previously undisclosed notice sent to CIA employees last week, officials said.
"The director of the clandestine service has never been picked that way," said a former senior U.S. intelligence official.
The move has led to speculation that Brennan is seeking political cover for a decision made more difficult by the re-emergence of the interrogation controversy and the acting chief's ties to that program.
The undercover agent in question served in a senior position at the CIA's Counterterrorism Center following the September 11th attacks, and was a key player in the Rendition, Detention and Interrogation program (RDI).
As Kevin Gosztola at FireDogLake reports, "The woman clearly engaged in obstruction of evidence," through the desctruction of CIA torture tapes. "The Justice Department brought no charges against any officers in the agency. Because the Justice Department chose not to pursue accountability, it is likely she will remain as head of the clandestine service."
Read more about the 2005 torture tapes scandal at FireDogLake.
Read the Washington Post's coverage here.
_______________________________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.