Current Events And Commentaries
“And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come,
he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.” ~ Jesus
he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.” ~ Jesus
Luke 12:39
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Bush, Ex-CIA Chiefs Blast Release Of
Senate ‘Torture’ Report
Senate ‘Torture’ Report
By Elliot Jager, Newsmax — A still unreleased Senate Intelligence Committee report that is expected to claim the CIA misled the George W. Bush administration about its use of torture is already being panned by the former president's circle, and top CIA officials are treating with derision assertions that they also were kept in the dark about what was happening in the field, The New York Times reported.The 480-page report, a summary of a still-classified 6,000 page study, is expected to be made public next week. The report is expected to describe the specific "enhanced interrogation" techniques, like waterboarding, used on suspects, and many locations around the world where this was done.
Several ex-intelligence officials have privately reassured the Bush team in recent days that they did not deceive them and have lobbied the former president’s advisers to speak out publicly on their behalf, the Times reported.
Specifically, former CIA leaders George J. Tenet and Gen. Michael V. Hayden, two former directors, and John E. McLaughlin, a former deputy CIA director who also served as acting director, have been forceful about defending the program.
"Once the release occurs, we’ll have things to say and will be making some documents available that bear on the case," McLaughlin told The Times on Sunday. He said the report "uses information selectively, often distorts to make its points, and as I recall contains no recommendations."
Hayden said that the report mischaracterizes CIA efforts. "We’re not here to defend torture," he told the Times in an email. "We’re here to defend history."
Hayden also said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that to say that any assertion that the CIA "lied to everyone about a program that wasn’t doing any good, that beggars the imagination."
An unnamed former Bush-era official told the Times, "This was not a rogue program. And nobody in our administration is going to throw the CIA over the side on this."
Bush himself, in an interview Sunday with CNN, also made that clear.
"We’re fortunate to have men and women who work hard at the C.I.A. serving on our behalf," he told CNN’s Candy Crowley. "These are patriots and whatever the report says, if it diminishes their contributions to our country, it is way off base."
These are "really good people and we’re lucky as a nation to have them," he said.
Jose Rodriguez, the CIA operative who ran the interrogation program, wrote in The Washington Post on Sunday that those who are attacking the agency formerly pushed it to do whatever it took to overcome al-Qaida.
"The interrogation program was authorized by the highest levels of the U.S. government, judged legal by the Justice Department and proved effective by any reasonable standard," Rodriguez wrote. "The leaders of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees and of both parties in Congress were briefed on the program more than 40 times between 2002 and 2009."
He himself briefed Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California, in 2002 that terror suspects were being waterboarded.
Others fear that the report could launch a new wave of violence against Americans.
Rep. Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican who is head of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that U.S. intelligence agencies and foreign governments have said privately that the release of the report will be used by extremists to incite violence that is likely to cost lives.
On Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry urged the senator in charge of the report to consider the timing of the release, though Obama administration officials say they still support making it public. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat and chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has not responded to reports of the Kerry call, though she told The Los Angeles Times in a story published Sunday that, "We have to get this report out."
Feinstein told the Los Angeles Times that the harsh interrogations undermined "societal and constitutional values that we are very proud of. Anybody who reads this is going to never let this happen again."
Committee staff did not interview Bush or, apparently, anyone else before drafting the report on the grounds that the Justice Department was conducting its own criminal investigation. The committee based its findings on transcripts of interviews carried out by the agency's inspector general, the Times reported.
The Obama administration has asked the committee not to make the report public, saying that doing so would endanger Americans overseas.
But some groups are pressing for the release. "Delaying release of the Senate report because of possible negative repercussions for national security is a red herring," said Sarah Margon of Human Rights Watch.
"Maintaining secrecy around a defunct torture program is the real liability as doing so denies us the right to debate what happened and make sure it is never repeated," the Times reported.
Other Related Stories on Newsmax
» House Intelligence Chief Rogers: Intel Report Release Will Spur Attacks
» Dianne Feinstein Pushes for Release of Senate CIA Torture Report
» Newsmax
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Hillary Clinton Under Fire After Saying America Should
‘Empathize’ And ‘Show Respect’ To Its Enemies
‘Empathize’ And ‘Show Respect’ To Its Enemies
By Sophie Jane Evans, MailOnline — Speaking at Georgetown University to promote female leadership, the former U.S. Secretary of State also said the country should show 'respect' to those fighting against it. Using an approach she dubs 'smart power' - which women are apparently uniquely positioned to deploy - she urged Americans to use 'every possible tool and partner' to advance peace. This approach means 'showing respect, even for one's enemies; trying to understand and, insofar as psychologically possible, empathize with their...Will Obama Soon Be Moving Out
Of The White House?
Of The White House?
Gabor (Gabe) Zolna
I sure hope that proves to be the case, I can't imagine that his,"Handlers," the,"Puppet master," are going to allow him to remain in power. Obama has single handedly destroyed the Democratic Party, and nothing that he has implemented has worked, including Obama-Care.
Walmart Selling Islamic Crescent Moon And Star
Ornament For Tops Of Christmas Trees
Ornament For Tops Of Christmas Trees
By Ben Barrack, Shoebat Foundation — In light of the recent edict from a Muslim scholar that saying ‘Merry Christmas’ is worse than drinking alcohol, fornication and murder, it’s difficult to reconcile this latest development. According to an an account relayed by a certain Walmart shopper – who appears to have provided a photo – the superstore is selling Islamic crescents as Christmas tree toppers. According to the Steve Deace website: Last weekend, my wife and I determined it was time to get a new tree topper for our Christmas tree....The Girl In The Bag
Wild Bill For America
Bill’s thoughts after seeing a woman in a Muslim burkha.
More Progressive Indoctrination: Notre Dame To Teach
White Students That They Are Inherently Racist
White Students That They Are Inherently Racist
By Jennifer Burke, TPNN — Progressive indoctrination within the school system, from elementary through college, is something that many patriot loving Americans have been concerned about. Students are being taught that pilgrims were the first terrorists. They are being taught that America is a racist nation and that’s why so many don’t want Obama as president. White students are also being taught something even more disgusting and dangerous; that they are inherently racist and have achieved what they have because of ‘white privilege.’...OBAMA’S BLACK SKIN PRIVILEGE
TruthRevoltOriginals: “Bill Whittle: Firewall
Everyone knows it is true, and no one has the courage to say it. The American people are letting Barack Obama destroy this country through illegal executive orders for one reason and one reason only. In his latest FIREWALL, Bill Whittle has the courage to speak out and make the case that no one else will make.
Biden Boasts End Of Caucasian Majority In U.S.
‘Diversity is the reason for our incredible strength???’
By Steve Peacock, WND — U.S. taxpayers shelled out nearly a quarter-million dollars in November, so Vice President Joe Biden could trumpet “diversity” to world business leaders in Morocco and boast that in 2017, “for the first time, Caucasians of European descent like me will be in an absolute minority in the United States of America.” “I’ve … come here to an ancient Muslim nation at the crossroads of Africa, the Arab world and Europe to talk about what it takes for all nations to succeed in the 21st century” the vice president told the...A Very Ferguson Christmas
» Cartoonist: Gary McCoy and his brother Glenn create the internationally syndicated comic panel The Flying McCoys. Gary also freelances for Parade magazine, Playboy, greeting card companies and others.
Jesus Privately Briefing His Inner Circle of Disciples
Regarding The Last Days
Regarding The Last Days
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” ~ Matthew 24:3-14