George Tenet is a Torture Monger
Ex-CIA Director George Tenet wants to tell you something:
We don’t torture people.
Instead of torture, he prefers to call waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and exposure to extreme temperatures “enhanced interrogation.”
The second thing he wants to tell you is this:
I know that this program has saved lives. I know we’ve disrupted plots. 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.
Whoop-de-do. This from the guy who told Bush there was a “slam dunk case” that Saddam had WMD.
Didn’t Tenet resign because of his faulty intelligence? Well, don’t look now but he’s back, with a book, telling us he’s sure America needs something that resembles torture but isn’t torture because he calls it a different name.
Not only that, but Tenet is firing back at Bush, Condi, and Cheney, and after 3,300 dead troops he’s whining that his “slam dunk” comment was misunderstood.
Washington Post columnist David Ignatius has this to say:
George Tenet has been doing a slow burn ever since he left the CIA. He’s been angrier and angrier as he saw himself being essentially made the fall guy on WMD in Iraq. And he’s gonna come back saying he and his agency, the CIA, were pushed, again and again, by Cheney and Cheney’s people to give him the answers that they wanted.
Sniff, sniff. I almost feel sorry for Tenet, the torture monger.
As for Tenet’s “slam dunk” certainty that torture saves lives, Brigadier General David R. Irvine has something to say about that:
No one has yet offered any validated evidence that torture produces reliable intelligence. While torture apologists frequently make the claim that torture saves lives, that assertion is directly contradicted by many Army, FBI, and CIA professionals who have actually interrogated al Qaeda captives.
Exhibit A is the torture-extracted confession of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, an al Qaeda captive who told the CIA in 2001, having been “rendered” to the tender mercies of Egypt, that Saddam Hussein had trained al Qaeda to use WMD. It appears that this confession was the only information upon which, in late 2002, the president, the vice president, and the secretary of state repeatedly claimed that “credible evidence” supported that claim, even though a now-declassified Defense Intelligence Agency report from February 2002 questioned the reliability of the confession because it was likely obtained under torture. In January 2004, al-Libi recanted his “confession,” and a month later, the CIA recalled all intelligence reports based on his statements.
In other words, torture is great for getting false information about WMD used to lie a nation into an illegal war. That’s not such a great argument for torture…uh, I mean “enhanced interrogation.”
If America’s torture program (I’m calling it what it is), as Tenet claims, is worth more than the FBI, CIA, and NSA put together, then let’s turn over national security to the at-least competent intelligence gathering Google Labs right now…
Brig. Gen. Irvine continues:
Exhibit B is the case of Manadel al-Jamadi, an Iraqi deemed a “high-value” target by the CIA. After being beaten to an extent that he had several broken ribs, he was subjected to a form of crucifixion known as “Palestinian hanging.” Forty-five minutes later, he was dead, never having revealed whatever vital, ticking-bomb information his American interrogator was seeking.
Well, well, that “enhanced interrogation” Tenet is so proud of sho’ nuff packs a wallop, don’t it. We don’t torture people, indeed.
Brig. Gen. Irvine further says:
If there is reliable evidence that torture has, in fact, interrupted ticking time bombs and saved lives, the gravity of the crisis created by the administration’s free-wheeling torture policy demands straight answers which can be weighed and evaluated by a bipartisan, blue-ribbon commission whose membership might include interrogators, jurists, theologians, national security specialists, military leaders, and political leaders. The damage to our national interests and the dismal record of war candor by this administration has made “trust us” an insufficient justification for such a profound change in American law and moral values.
‘Nuff said.
Read More: George Tenet, torture, Iraq War, WMD, CIA, George W. Bush, David Irvine
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April 27th, 2007 at 8:52 am
Does anyone else sense a slow creep towards punishing a few of these creeps? I think there will soon be more leaks in the dam than fingers to plug the holes.
I may just cut me a willow and buy a bag of marshmallows.
April 27th, 2007 at 9:40 am
I sure hope so…If Nixon had done some hard jail time, and Ronnie had been punished for the Contra dealings, I don’t think the current admin would be so brazenly criminal. We’ve gotta start setting an example sometime, even if it’s bad for the country in the short term. To the rest of the world, we look like a battered wife saying, “I can’t kick him out; even though he beats crap out of me, he still loves me. What would I do without him?” Hopefully we’ve about reached a turning point.
April 27th, 2007 at 9:56 am
How can we punish simple minded people who have been appointed to positions of authority way beyond their comprehension, and capabilities.
I think we should have investigations to find out why so many of these people were confirmed by congress in the first place.
April 27th, 2007 at 10:28 am
Pelmo,
You are absolutely correct.
The redneck in me wants a nice Chairman Mao “roundup”.
April 27th, 2007 at 11:35 am
Yes, we should see why Congress is confirming them — BUT — people like George Tenet, Cheney, Gonzales and even W himself are not merely “simple-minded”. I think it’s disingenuous (sp?) of us to let them off the hook that way. If we can call those guys simple-minded, how do we expect Congress to make a proper enquiry?
It’s greed and flagrant disregard for the rights of others. Pull out the troops and send these jerks to fight the wars of their making.
April 27th, 2007 at 11:53 am
I hope Tenet spills the beans on where some of the bodies Cheney takes care of are buried. Cheney should call the guy he shot in the face, “the one who got away.”
April 27th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Being an old fart and a retired cop, I tend to look at things diffrently. So let me throw a little shit into the game.
Did anyone ever consider that the war and all these sacraficial lambs of late are being used as a smoke screen by both parties, so that everything else will be flying under the radar, as the wheeling and dealing goes on.
Obscene 30%, 40% and higher quaterly profits, as good jobs are shipped overseas and nothing is heard from congress. Bill Gates wants more HB1 visas so he could higher cheaper labor, while laying off his higher paid workers. And congress is willing to give it to him.
Family farmers squeezed, as most farm subsidies go to big agro corporations.
Why do some bills pass quickly, and others linger, and then suddenly pass with little of no fan fare, favoring corporate America and shafting the citizens.
If I had to describe this fight between the democrats and republicans, it would be a lot of dancing and sparring, with no real punches thrown by either one.
April 27th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Yeah, it’s hard to know how much is for show, playing bad cop/good cop for the public while they loot the nation, and how much emotion is real emotion. I do think a lot of politicians start out with good and moral intentions, but by the time they get to the national level, they start thinking they can do more good by doing some criminal things…playing ball, if you will. I’d like to see more of them have a wake-up call, sort of like Warren Beatty’s character in Bulworth…that’d be sweet to see somebody totally crack and come clean on Larry King!
You know…I just looked it up and watched the rap scene. Beatty’s words are more relevant today than ever. It’s a little slow starting, but wait till he gets to the rap:
April 27th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Wouldn’t it be great to hear somone speak up like that, but sad to say most people would rather have them pitch the bull shit then hear the truth and naturally elect those idiots.
April 28th, 2007 at 8:48 am
Pelmo,
More and more I think you are right. I think we are being “worked” by a team of pro’s. Auction houses have a “confederate” in the crowd who “bids up” for the house, faith healers run a team, politicians use the worlds best psychometrics, etc., to caputure as many of us as possible, cops use good cop, bad cop, to get info. It’s a a “sleight of hand” thing isn’t it? I used to use it when I didn’t care about longterm results…in dating. “baby, I’m the best thing you’ve ever seen in every way and I love all your strange little quirks” (for today/tonight/for awhile…I just want some yum yum).
April 28th, 2007 at 9:11 am
oops, published before I was done.
I hope house investigators are looking into the “shredding volume” at whatever departments the house is trying to get info from. If I was trying not to get indicted on war crimes or just being dishonest, I’d be shredding as fast as I could.
Did you see Jon Stewart the other night when he lampooned “Regency U”? Apparently a 4th tier law school owned by Pat Robertson…and 150 of their “graduates” now work for bush. Put that with bushes comments that he answers to a higher power and we have a fertile ground for other than approved crops. What does that cop nose say, Pelmo?
btw, has anyone been watching the new incarnation of Bill Moyers on PBS television? He is pulling very few punches. Best TV I’ve seen in years. Had Jon Stewart on last night. Stewart is a genius when he is serious even more than when he is funny. Moyers is adding quite a few sraws to the camels back. If we all keep piling on what we can…….
Joe, I wish you were right about young DC politicians starting out idealistic and I’m sure there are exceptions. But, most that go to washington also had careers in local or state politics and judging from the ones I know, have the “habit” long before they leave town for the big city.
I’m so negative the last few days. I should be coming out of it, since Moyers and Stewart really lift my spirits.