As we reported two days ago, the CIA has admitted to the use of waterboarding. However, they qualified it by saying they’ve only used it on three high value detainees and not again over the last five years. Mike McConnell the intelligence director was quick to point out though, that waterboarding still remained in the CIA’s arsenal and the president could approve its use. Yesterday, the White House weighed in on this saying that waterboarding was in fact legal, and the President was ready to sign off on it if needbe. This afternoon, questions have arisen about the legality of Waterboarding, who used it, when it was used, and the CIA tapes that showed it in what is beginning to look more like a political game of three card monty by the hour. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Waterboarding’
Waterboarding is a Game of Three Card Monty
Posted in torture, tagged Bush, CIA, Michael Hayden, Mike McConnell, torture, Waterboarding on February 7, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Waterboarding? Youbetcha
Posted in CIA, torture, tagged Al-Qaeda, CIA, Iraq, Michael Hayden, Mike McConnell, torture, Waterboarding on February 5, 2008| 1 Comment »
CIA Chief Michael Hayden has admitted that the CIA used waterboarding,but only on three people and not at all in the last five years. However, Intelligence Director Mike McConnell says waterboarding still remains in the CIA’s arsenal. (more…)
Waterboarding Like “Flipping A Switch”, Dems and Republicans Agree.
Posted in Bush Administration, CIA, DoJ, torture, tagged CIA, CIA Tapes, Congress, DoJ, Pelosi, torture, Waterboarding on December 11, 2007| 1 Comment »
The First Obstruction Case?
Posted in CIA, enemy combatant, Guantanamo Bay, torture, tagged CIA, Guantanamo, Majid Kahn, torture, Waterboarding on December 10, 2007| 1 Comment »
According to the the New York Times Majid Khan, the first of the high-value terrorism suspects at Gitmo to meet with a private lawyer has said he was subject to state sanctioned torture, including waterboarding. This could well be the first obstruction of justice case to come out of the CIA tape case. (more…)
CIA Tape Case Update: Blood In The Water
Posted in CIA, DoJ, Guantanamo Bay, intelligence community, tagged CIA, CIA Tapes, Congress, DoJ, Guantanamo, torture, Waterboarding on December 10, 2007| 2 Comments »
The blood is in the water on the CIA tape case, as was broken on Friday, the CIA has destroyed two tapes which contain evidence of waterboarding. This prompted a firestorm of accusations about who knew what, when, and whether or not there is a case to be made about obstruction of justice. Republicans and Democrats alike are looking at investigation vehicles to examine exactly what went on. A round-up of the weekend coverage here… (more…)
Update: CIA Tape Case
Posted in Bush Administration, CIA, DoJ, Edward Kennedy, torture, tagged CIA, Edward Kennedy, torture, Waterboarding on December 7, 2007| Leave a Comment »
Senator Edward Kennedy has release a statement on the CIA Tape case. According to the statement, congress was not notified. This contradicts a line in the earlier post on the Washington Post/New York Times articles that ran today. A few telling tidbits:
It is particularly difficult to take the Director’s explanation at face value when the news that these CIA tapes were destroyed came the very same week that we learned that as many as ten million White House emails have not been preserved, despite a law that requires their retention. At the same time, the President continued to insist that we grant immunity to the phone companies for their role in the illegal wiretapping of American citizens.
These efforts are wrong, and they must be stopped. I and other concerned Senators will today call upon Attorney General Mukasey to immediately begin an investigation into whether the CIA’s handling and destruction of these tapes violated the law.
The full text of the statement can be found here.
Some how we doubt any sort of investigation will be forthcoming, or that it would go anywhere with the executive orders currently outstanding. But at least someone is saying something.
CIA Destroys Evidence of Waterboarding
Posted in Bush Administration, CIA, DoJ, torture, US Congress, tagged Bush Administration, CIA, Congress, torture, Waterboarding on December 7, 2007| Leave a Comment »
The Washington Post is running a story this morning that the CIA has destroyed video tapes of its agents using waterboarding against two Al-Qaeda suspects. All the tapes were destroyed in November of 2005 on the order of the CIA’s head of Clandestine Operations. According to the article:
The destruction came after the Justice Department had told a federal judge in the case of al-Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui that the CIA did not possess videotapes of a specific set of interrogations sought by his attorneys. A CIA spokesman said yesterday that the request would not have covered the destroyed tapes.