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| Cheney 'ordered CIA to hide program' | |
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| Topic Started: Jul 12 2009, 04:45 AM (128 Views) | |
| Sayf Udeen Ismaeel | Jul 12 2009, 04:45 AM Post #1 |
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Cheney 'ordered CIA to hide program' THE CIA withheld information about a secret counter-terrorism program from Congress for eight years on orders from former US Vice President Dick Cheney, the New York Times said today. Citing two unidentified sources, the newspaper said Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta disclosed Mr Cheney's involvement in closed briefings to congressional intelligence committees late last month. Mr Panetta, who was named to head the agency earlier this year by President Barack Obama, ended the program, which remains secret, when he first learned of its existence from subordinates on June 23, the Times said. Intelligence and congressional officials told the newspaper the agency began the program after the September 11 attacks and said it never became operational and did not involve CIA interrogation programs or domestic intelligence activities. The newspaper said its efforts to reach Mr Cheney through relatives and associates were unsuccessful. Asked about the Times report, CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said it was not the agency's practice to discuss classified briefings. "When a CIA unit brought this matter to Director Panetta's attention, it was with the recommendation that it be shared appropriately with Congress. That was also his view, and he took swift, decisive action to put it into effect," Gimigliano said, declining to comment further. Mr Cheney was a key advocate in the Bush Administration of using controversial interrogation methods such as waterboarding on terrorism suspects and has emerged as a leading Republican critic of Mr Obama's national security policies. Mr Panetta has vowed not to allow coercive interrogation practices, secret prisons or the transfer of terrorist suspects to countries that may use torture, a pledge seen as a break with the agency's policies under former US President George W. Bush. Critics of the agency, however, want it to be more forthcoming about its secret programs. Fears the CIA withheld key information from Congress were rekindled in May when House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, accused the agency of failing to reveal in 2002 that it was waterboarding a terrorism suspect. Mr Panetta has rejected the Democratic speaker's accusation. US law requires the president to make sure intelligence committees are kept fully informed of intelligence activities, including any significant anticipated intelligence activity. But the government has some leeway in disclosing such information. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25768316-23109,00.html |
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| Sayf Udeen Ismaeel | Jul 13 2009, 08:02 AM Post #2 |
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Icon by meagan_chelsea @ LJ
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Cheney 'hid CIA program from Congress' THE CIA withheld information from the US Congress about a secret counterterrorism program on orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, a senator said as Democrats called for an investigation. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein told "Fox News Sunday" that CIA Director Leon Panetta disclosed Mr Cheney's involvement when he briefed members of Congress two weeks ago. She said Mr Panetta told them he had cancelled the program. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, appointed Mr Panetta to head the agency early this year. The still-secret program, which The New York Times said never became operational, began after the September 11 attacks on the US in 2001. The Wall Street Journal said the secret initiative terminated by Mr Panetta was an effort to carry out a 2001 authorisation by then President George W. Bush to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives. Citing current and former government officials, the newspaper reported the CIA spent money on planning and possibly some training but the initiative had not become fully operational. Mr Panetta ended the CIA effort after learning about it on June 23, the Journal said. News of Mr Cheney's involvement, reported by the Times on Sunday, prompted an outpouring of criticism by Mr Obama's fellow Democrats and support by rival Republicans in Congress. Mr Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said: "Director Panetta did brief us two weeks ago - I believe it was on the 24th of June ... and, as had been reported, did tell us that he was told that the vice president had ordered that the program not be briefed to the Congress." Asked if the matter should be investigated, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said: "Absolutely." "The executive branch of government cannot create programs like these programs and keep Congress in the dark. There is a requirement for disclosure," Mr Durbin said on ABC's This Week. "It has to be done in an appropriate way so it doesn't jeopardise our national security. But to have a massive program that is concealed from the leaders in Congress is not only inappropriate, it could be illegal." Mr Feinstein and Democrat Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, insisted no one should go outside the law. Asked about Mr Cheney's alleged involvement, Mr Leahy told the CBS program Face the Nation: "I'd like to know if it's true or not. I mean, nobody in this country is above the law ... You can't have somebody say, well, if you're vice president, you don't have to obey the law." Mr Feinstein said Congress "should have been told." "This is a big problem, because the law is very clear. And I understand the need of the day, which was when America was in shock" after Sept. 11, she said on Fox. "But ... I think you weaken your case when you go outside of the law." http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25774767-23109,00.html |
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| FMPBeats | Jul 14 2009, 01:03 PM Post #3 |
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Cheney needs the death sentence |
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| Sayf Udeen Ismaeel | Jul 14 2009, 07:36 PM Post #4 |
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Icon by meagan_chelsea @ LJ
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But somehow his life as an American tyrant is more valuable than that of a certain Iraqi tyrant... 
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| :C=:O: | Jul 19 2009, 02:49 AM Post #5 |
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At face value, there's not much here that is significant enough to warrant a death pentalty for Cheney, in my opinion. Not that there aren't other things that do warrant his death, such as the torture of 'prisoners of war' during the Bush administration, as a strong example. However, I don't find this surprising at all. In fact, I'd be shocked, and disappointed, if this was the only information that is withheld from Congress. |
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8:09 AM Nov 27
