By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY Posted Monday, April 27, 2009
Security Breaches: Scooter Libby went to prison for the "outing" of a desk-jockey CIA agent. He forgot conversations. Pelosi forgets briefings. And the outing of our entire intelligence apparatus by Democrats is OK.
Remember the thrilling days of yesteryear and the alleged outing of the already known CIA officer Valerie Plame? We were told then that the Vanity Fair cover girl's 15 minutes of fame jeopardized our national security even if everybody already knew who she was.
"Scooter" Libby went to prison because his memory of events and who said what to whom regarding Plame differed from the recollections of others, particularly news reporters. Alleged contradictory statements were portrayed as a deliberate and malicious obstruction of justice. So what about Pelosi?
When Libby's sentence was justifiably commuted by President Bush, Pelosi was outraged.
"The President's commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence does not serve justice, condones criminal conduct and is a betrayal of trust of the American people," she said.
Revealing CIA interrogation techniques and exposing government officials who kept us alive since 9/11 to prosecution is a betrayal of trust that does not serve justice. These agents and officials acted in good faith. They also kept us alive and safe.
Here we have the release of memos describing in detail how we have interrogated terrorists in the past, an action that gives aid and comfort to the enemy, revealing means, methods and sources, while jeopardizing real security officials. How does that not jeopardize America's national security?
We are telling al-Qaida and others who would kill us en masse just what we won't do in the future. We are telling what they should train for, which isn't much, save for sitting them in lounge chairs, saying they have the right to an attorney and asking if they would like more iced tea.
So here we have the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, offering up contradictory statements to the press and exhibiting a faulty memory that disagrees with the recollections of others regarding briefings concerning waterboarding.
One of those she disagrees with is the Washington Post. We noted back in December 2007 the Post's report on a briefing on the CIA interrogation program and the techniques being used held in September 2002, barely a year after the attacks of 9/11. Among those attending the briefing were California Democrats Rep. Jane Harman and future House Speaker Pelosi as well as Sens. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
The Post reported waterboarding was among the techniques described at the briefing, or should we say, briefings. U.S. law required such briefings, and another was held the following month. These were followed by 28 more briefings over the next five years. So it wasn't like Democrats didn't know.
Nor was it like they were outraged. Some receiving the briefings were reported to have asked if the techniques described were enough.
We wonder what Pelosi and the Democrats would say if a future Republican Congress decides to open up to prosecution officials of this administration. Didn't we just shoot three terrorists, uh, pirates, in the head without reading them their rights and without benefit of legal counsel? Will that be considered a war crime? And we haven't even signed the Law of The Sea treaty, which frowns on such unilateral cowboy action.
If Khalid Sheik Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah had been sent to their just reward by a Predator drone, killing anyone — friends, family and civilians — around them, would that have been more civilized than pouring water down their noses?
The current administration is carrying on President Bush's policy of raining death from the skies on such terrorists. We can blow them up, but we can't waterboard them. Will a future tribunal accuse this administration of war crimes?
Somewhere, "Scooter" Libby is watching it all and shaking his head.
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Stop The UN
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