http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090919/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_cia_interrogations

Even Panetta agrees.


Ex-CIA chiefs seek halt to interrogations probe

AP


By PAMELA HESS, Associated Press Writer Pamela Hess, Associated Press Writer – 5 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Seven former CIA directors asked President Barack Obama on Friday to quash a criminal probe of harsh interrogations of terror suspects during the Bush administration.

The CIA directors, who served both Democratic and Republican presidents and include three who worked under President George W. Bush, made their request in a letter Friday to the White House.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced last month that he was appointing an independent counsel to investigate possible incidents of abuse by CIA personnel during interrogations that went beyond guidelines imposed by the Bush administration.

The incidents were referred by the CIA inspector general to the Justice Department during the Bush administration, but Justice officials at the time prosecuted only one case.

"If criminal investigations closed by career prosecutors during one administration can so easily be reopened at the direction of political appointees in the next, declinations of prosecution will be rendered meaningless," wrote the former directors.

The Washington Post reported on its Web site Friday night that the Justice Department will focus on only two or three cases for possible indictment.

One of them, said the newspaper, involved an Afghan prisoner who died after being beaten and chained on a cold night to a concrete floor without blankets. The report cited unidentified officials.

The seven former CIA directors included Michael Hayden, Porter Goss and George Tenet, who served under Bush; John Deutch and James Woolsey, who worked for President Bill Clinton; William Webster, who served under President George H.W. Bush; and James Schlesinger, who ran the agency under President Richard Nixon. Tenet also served under Clinton.

They urged Obama to reverse Holder's Aug. 24 decision to reopen the investigation of interrogations following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said the agency is cooperating with the Justice Department review "in part to see that they move as expeditiously as possible."

"The director has stood up for those who followed legal guidance on interrogation, and he will continue to do so," said Gimigliano.

In their letter, the former directors warned that the investigations could discourage CIA officers from doing the kind of aggressive intelligence work needed to counter terrorism and may inhibit foreign governments from working with the United States.

Matthew Miller, Holder's spokesman, said Holder does not believe his probe will affect CIA employees' commitment to their work.

"The attorney general's decision to order a preliminary review into this matter was made in line with his duty to examine the facts and to follow the law. As he has made clear, the Department of Justice will not prosecute anyone who acted in good faith and within the scope of the legal guidance given by the Office of Legal Counsel regarding the interrogation of detainees," Miller said in a written statement.

The former CIA directors also warned that foreign governments may be hesitant to cooperate with the United States if the probe continues.

"As a result of the zeal on the part of some to uncover every action taken in the post-9/11 period, many countries may decide that they can no longer safely share intelligence or cooperate with us on future counter-terrorist operations. They simply cannot rely on our promises of secrecy," the letter says.

The letter said the CIA referred fewer than 20 incidents to Bush administration prosecutors, including the case of CIA contractor David Passaro. Passaro was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to eight years for beating an Afghan detainee in 2007. The detainee later died.

One former CIA official familiar with the cases now under review said that Bush-era Justice lawyers declined to prosecute either because they were not certain they could win conviction or because some of the CIA personnel involved had already been disciplined by the agency. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the cases.

Though not a signatory to the letter, current CIA Director Leon Panetta also opposed Holder's investigation.

"I think the reason I felt the way I did is because I don't believe there's a basis there for any kind of additional action," Panetta said.

"My concern is ... that we don't get trapped by the past. My feeling is ultimately, we're going to be able to move on," he told reporters this week after a speech in Michigan.

The CIA is one agency I wouldn't want to mess with.

Obama won't stop it, because he's driving it. He wants to break then eliminate the C.I.A.

Obama needs to throw a couple of CIA interrogators in prison to appease his left-wing nutjob supporters.

I've come to realize today that Obama is the next Carter.

In doing so he will have American Blood on his hands but he already knows that.

We have a subversive in The White House.

Much worse.

I bet they're all white aren't they.
 

Uhhh, ummm, we have a problem.  How should we go uhhhh, about, uhhhhh, taking care of it?

Obama doesn't care. He'll let the party go right on.

Ah, you guys ever heard of the Constitutional principle of balance of power?  You do understand that the Executive and Judicial branches of government are independent, right?  The last thing the President needs right now is a probe into previous administrations or the CIA, he knows this and has said so.  Get off ClusterFox and read a paper for the Nation's sake.

 

Yes, because everything your dear leader says is the truth.
He never says one thing publicly and another completely thing privately.

Pull your head out of your ass.

Damn.  Seven former CIA chiefs are racist.  Racism is everywhere.  

You do know that the DOJ is in the executive branch, don't you?

wow.

really? you think people here don't know that the AG is supposed to be independent of the president?

how about instead of reading a paper, like the ny times,  you listen to what obama has actually said on the matter

and if you think holder is doing this on his own then you really are a troll.

fun fact, the AG was supposed to be independent of the bush white house also, but that didn't bother bush

If I wanted someone to throw under the bus figuratively speaking, I wouldn't pick the people that might throw me under the bus literally speaking.

 

Funny because it's true.



 

How is that Patriot Act thing-im-a-jimmy working out for you?

What would be the reason for wanting to do this? How would getting rid of the CIA benefit Obama? Who would do the "dirty work" once they are gone?

QFTMFT



ETA - he sure is going about it like he has an axe to grind with the CIA.



Did the CIA waterboard one of his brothers or uncles or something?

They should listen.  And they likely will not.  

I wouldnt mess with them if they told me to stop, Uhmmm remember JFK who do you really think masterminded it?

My prediction:

Obama ignores this and keeps the probe going, uncovers some bad shit and his birth certificate ends up on the steps of Fox News Inc.

OR

Obama ignore this and keeps the probe going, uncovers some bad shit and takes a ride through downtown Dallas in an open top car.

It's all a show-trial anyways to placate Obama's left-wing constituency.

Even if they go on with it, it'll be a sham and nothing of consequence.

Obie is a commie, muslin, conman who is trying to make America into the next Soviet Union!

Obama keeps digging because he thinks there is some political golden nugget that will allow him to continue bashing Bush

and Republicans.





 

Eh, probably not the CIA, but still.



This is an organization that I imagine, kills quite a few people.  Every government agency thinks they are the most important.  You make your garbage man mad, and your trash can might not be close enough to the curb on your next pick up.  Catch my drift?

sigh

I've got one thing to say:

JFK

At the very least Obama wants the CIA neutered. He already has his presidential security unit in charge of terrorist interrogations, and in time, more and more intelligence functions will be shifted to this group, who has no congressional oversight. Very soon, the CIA will be an agency without a mission, making the extreme left and the lefty politburo very happy.



Obama appointed a left-wing, Leon Panetta as CIA director, but Panetta, I think, has double-crossed Obama by vigorously supporting and defending his agency.



Enter Erc Holder.

You know, this is a pretty frightening concept in and of itself. Not sure I'd want to ever see it happen for real.

Pop art, my man. It's just pop art.

It's always the non team that are trolls.

Why do they pick AZ as the state they claim to be from?

I never meet these left loons in public. they must be staying hidden in the basement.





 

Being an America hating subversive, Obama is proactively working to weaken The United States every which way he can; politically, militarily,financially and socially as well as to undermine our position on the world stage.

Every one of our institutions is under attack from the leftists these days, as would be expected considering who is running the show.

His ultimate goal is to totally recast American society into his preferred socialist model.

But first he has to tear it down before he can rebuild it in his image.

ETA: Even his own CIA director Leon Panetta, although not a signatory of the letter, wants Obama and Holder to stop trying to destroy the CIA.

Your first mistake is believing anything Obama says. Your second is believing that his administration even believes in the Constitution. His appointment of a special interrogation detail is evidence to that.



Obama and his minions will do whatever it takes to destroy this country.



And read what paper? Pravda? New York Times?



You need to wake up, smell the coffee and get off DU.



Kool-Aid will rot your brain.



And Holder is the AG, as in, the Justice Department. Obama's his boss.

Your 7th  post since April 2007, whatsamatta'; your federal funding has been cut off and things are slow for you right now down at the ACORN office ?

Say hello to Bertha for me.

The only way the President could squash a criminal investigation would be if that investigation was simply a politically motivated investigation.

Think about it.

What does this say about an investigation of the CIA?

I've said it before, and I will say it again. How can one guy put some many people into positions of authority who are so out of touch with the majority of Americans?

I'm strangely okay with that scenario.  Biden is just a run-o-the-mill idiot, not a full blown communist.

I have a few in my office. Damned frustrationg when they they only get their news from Keith Olberman or DU. But I rant.

I'd chime in here, but afraid I'll be put on the list.

must be my line of work keeps them away.