Cheney's speech ignored some inconvenient truths

[Nonno]

" WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney's defense Thursday of the Bush administration's policies for interrogating suspected terrorists contained omissions, exaggerations and misstatements.

In his address to the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative policy organization in Washington, Cheney said that the techniques the Bush administration approved, including waterboarding — simulated drowning that's considered a form of torture — forced nakedness and sleep deprivation, were "legal" and produced information that "prevented the violent death of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of innocent people."

He quoted the Director of National Intelligence, Adm. Dennis Blair, as saying that the information gave U.S. officials a "deeper understanding of the al Qaida organization that was attacking this country."

In a statement April 21, however, Blair said the information "was valuable in some instances" but that "there is no way of knowing whether the same information could have been obtained through other means. The bottom line is that these techniques hurt our image around the world, the damage they have done to our interests far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us and they are not essential to our national security."

More at: Cheney's speech ignored some inconvenient truths | McClatchy

[This_person]

Originally Posted by Nonno

" WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney's defense Thursday of the Bush administration's policies for interrogating suspected terrorists ....

And, yet....
A CIA program to administer aggressive interrogations to top Al Qaeda leaders brought America more valuable information about planned terror plots than all of the government's other intelligence gathering efforts, a former director of central intelligence, George Tenet, has declared.

"I know that this program has saved lives. I know we've disrupted plots," Mr. Tenet said in a "60 Minutes" interview. "I know this program alone is worth more than the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency put together have been able to tell us," he said.

[aps45819 (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Nonno

The bottom line is that these techniques hurt our image around the world, the damage they have done to our interests far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us and they are not essential to our national security."

The bottom line is our "image" was damaged by a sitting president releasing classified documents describing interrogation techniques (approved by Pelosi) to the socialist media.
He didn't have to continue a past president's policy but attempting to criminalize a previous administrations procedures is unacceptable

[Nonno]

Originally Posted by This_person

And, yet....
A CIA program to administer aggressive interrogations to top Al Qaeda leaders brought America more valuable information about planned terror plots than all of the government's other intelligence gathering efforts, a former director of central intelligence, George Tenet, has declared.

"I know that this program has saved lives. I know we've disrupted plots," Mr. Tenet said in a "60 Minutes" interview. "I know this program alone is worth more than the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency put together have been able to tell us," he said.

You mean ole 'slam dunk Tenet?

[This_person]

Originally Posted by Nonno

You mean ole 'slam dunk Tenet?

How long was he head of the CIA?

What's Blair's history?

[Nonno]

Originally Posted by This_person

How long was he head of the CIA? What's Blair's history?

What's that have to do with the sycophant Tenet's being a liar and not one to be trusted when it comes to the efficacy of the torture program?

[cwo_ghwebb]

Originally Posted by Nonno

You mean ole 'slam dunk Tenet?

Part II of our conversation with investigative journalist Allan Nairn, who reveals Admiral Dennis Blair played a critical role in backing the Indonesian occupation of East Timor during the 1990s. At the height of a wave of ruthless attacks on Timorese that killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands, Blair personally informed top Indonesian general, Wiranto, of unwavering US support. He continued to support the Indonesian military until international outcry forced the Clinton administration to withdraw its military and diplomatic backing. [includes rush transcript]

Obama Nominee Admiral Dennis Blair Aided Perpetrators of 1999 Church Killings in East Timor (Part II)

And from Wiki:

Conflict of interest

His membership on the board of directors of EDO Corporation, a subcontractor for the F-22 Raptor fighter program, and ownership of its stock was raised as a potential conflict of interest after the IDA issued a study that endorsed a three-year contract for the program. Blair told the Washington Post, "My review was not affected at all by my association with EDO Corp., and the report was a good one." He originally chose not to recuse himself because he claimed his link to EDO was not of sufficient "scale" to require it, but subsequently resigned from the EDO board to avoid any misperceptions.

However, on December 20, 2006 the Washington Post reported that the US Department of Defense Inspector General's investigation into the affair found Blair had violated IDA's Conflict of Interest rules but did not influence the result of IDA's study. Blair observed, "with all due respect to the Inspector General, I find it hard to understand how I could be criticized for violating conflict of interest standards when I didn't have any influence on the study."[8]

We're talking about your article's source, Blair.

[Nonno]

Originally Posted by cwo_ghwebb

We're talking about your article's source, Blair.

Blair is not he source of the article. Cheney quoted Blair in his speech.

[cwo_ghwebb]

Originally Posted by Nonno

In a statement April 21, however, Blair said the information "was valuable in some instances" but that "there is no way of knowing whether the same information could have been obtained through other means. The bottom line is that these techniques hurt our image around the world, the damage they have done to our interests far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us and they are not essential to our national security."

This is the crux of your angst. Get over it. Blair has been and always will be a loose cannon.

[cwo_ghwebb]

At least I think it's intended to be a news story. It popped up on Yahoo News a while ago, which I assume means that many thousands of people will read it. It's written for McClatchy by two reporters--I guess they are supposed to be reporters--named Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel and is titled "Cheney's speech contained omissions, misstatements." The article is basically a compendium of DNC/Daily Kos talking points from 2003 to the present. It is full of falsehoods, long-discredited canards, and misleading statements. I'm going to bed and don't have time to deconstruct it, but if you read it no doubt you will be able to make corrections as you go along. It is one of those "news stories" that is intended solely for the ignorant. If we had comments, maybe we could let our readers tear this piece of nonsense apart line by line while we sleep. Perhaps someday.

Power Line - The Most Insanely Biased "News" Story In History

I'd like to see these attorneys take Landay and Strobel factually apart.