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| White House Sets Up Interrogation Unit Directly Under NSC |
| 2009-08-24 |
| President Barack Obama has moved more forcefully than ever to abandon Bush administration interrogation policies, approving creation of a special White House unit for questioning terrorism suspects, as Attorney General Eric Holder weighs whether to reopen and pursue prisoner abuse cases. A senior administration official told The Associated Press Monday that Obama has approved establishment of the new unit, to be known as the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, which will be overseen by the Naitonal Security Council. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the program has not yet been officially announced. A U.S. intelligence official said Monday that the CIA welcomes the change, saying the agency does not want to be in the long-term detention business. The official spoke on grounds of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it publicly. Obama campaigned vigorously against President George W. Bush's interrogation policies in his successful run for the presidency. He has said more recently he didn't particularly favor prosecuting Bush administration officials in connection with instances of prisoner abuse. But the issue now before Holder for consideration would have the new administration do precisely that: reopen several such cases with an eye toward possible criminal prosecution. A government official confirmed to The AP the recommendation of Justice's ethics office on grounds of anonymity, citing the internal legal deliberations and indicating they remain ongoing. Obama created task forces to study U.S. policy and practices on handling terrorism captives shortly after taking office. Obama has vowed to close the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison by next year, hoping to free those prisoners against whom there is no case, to transfer others to the custody of other countries and to put still others on trial, ending their condition of limbo in the U.S. brig. While information on the new interrogation unit, known by the acronym HIG, will be made public later Monday, the task force working on questions about Guantanamo and prisoners still held there has not completed its work. The new group and new directives to rely soley on the Army Field Manual when interrogating prisoners is an attempt by the administration to separate itself from allegation that the Bush administration tortured some prisoners. While the practice of waterboarding - simulated drowning - already has been banned, the directive to stick only to procedures in the field manual means other harsh tactics, such as subjecting prisoners to loud music for long periods and sleep deprivation, are also now a thing of the past. The administration is announcing the new interrogation unit on the same day that the CIA inspector general was to unveil a report on Bush administration handling of suspects. Details were expected to show that highly questionable tactics were used. Subjecting prisoner abuse cases to a new review and possible prosecution could expose CIA employees and agency contractors to criminal prosecution for the alleged mistreatment of terror suspects in the years after the Sept. 11 attacks. Holder reportedly reacted with disgust when he first read accounts of prisoner abuse earlier this year in a classified version of the IG report. The Justice report is said to reveal how interrogators conducted mock executions and threatened at least one man with a gun and a power drill. Threatening a prisoner with death violates U.S. anti-torture laws. A federal judge has ordered the IG report made public Monday, in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. A CIA spokesman, Paul Gimigliano, told the Times that the recommendation to reopen the cases had not been sent to the agency. The accounts of the White House-supervised interrogation unit and the ethics recommendation to Holder were first reported, respectively, by The Washington Post and The New York Times. The recommendation by the Office of Professional Responsibility was recently presented to Holder, an official, speaking on grounds of anonymity, told The Associated Press. The structure of the new unit the White House is creating would depart significantly from such work under the previous administration, when the CIA had the lead and sometimes exclusive role in questioning al-Qaida suspects. Imagine if this had been done when Condoleeza Rice led the National Security Council? |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #21 E.g. ORIGINAL "STAR WARS" > always said it made no sense for character LUKE to carry a LIGHTSABER + BLASTER, but NOT any FLOATING COMBAT-DEFENSE ORB(s) nor PERSONAL BODY EM SHIELDS. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-08-24 23:10 |
| #20 OOOOPSIES, forgot REDDIT > seems RELEASED LOCKERBIE PRISONER MEGRAHI is planning to write a book indic that it was an AMERICAN WHOM PLANNED THE LOCKERBIE ATTACK. Also, THE NEWS.PK > US DOES NOT RULE OUT QADHAFI-OBAMA TALKS, espec wid LIBYA = HEAD OF THE UNO GENERAL ASSEMBLY this year. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-08-24 22:57 |
| #19 ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > MULLEN: AL QAEDA "VERY CAPABLE" OF MORE ATTACKS, includ agz USA. * SAME > SRI LANKA: LTTE TRIED TO PURCHASE NUCLEAR WEAPONS FROM THE WEST [wid likely Nuctechs, etc. Transference to vari international MilTerr Groups]. * THENEWS.PK > IRAN TELLS WORLD POWERS TO STOP COUNTERING ITS N-DRIVE; + DPRK MUST SCRAP ITS NUKES [US-Allies]. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-08-24 22:53 |
| #18 The interrogation squads now work directly for the president...we'll call them Democratic Guards. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2009-08-24 21:21 |
| #17 mojo, So you want Ried to read it to them? |
| Posted by: Hellfish 2009-08-24 20:45 |
| #16 ION CHINESE MIL FORUM > [YouTube]VIDEO: MEDIA BLACKOUT OF CIVIL UNREST IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA!? POSTER > opined unrest due to failure of SACRAMENTO = CA STATE GOVT, etc. to prepare for LT STATE WATER DROUGHT [lack of enuff drinking + agriculture reservoirs]. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-08-24 19:51 |
| #15 Start by reading the "health insurance reform" bill to detainees. Aloud. In a whiny, officious voice, with lots of disdainful sniffing. They'll crack in no time... |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-08-24 17:47 |
| #14 Very welcome RF. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-08-24 17:07 |
| #13 Bskr, thanks for the Rhodie-UDI post from the other day, the world is listening. We may get some answers sometime as to why we didn't string the d*cks up when we could. History repeats. |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2009-08-24 16:49 |
| #12 Running this center sounds like a great job. All you have to do is generate meaningful and timely intelligence without upsetting any detainees or their attorneys. Further, whoever runs the new interrogation center can be absolutely confident that Obama and Holder have their back. |
| Posted by: DoDo 2009-08-24 16:46 |
| #11 Nah. They clear it with the New York Times first. |
| Posted by: Matt 2009-08-24 16:34 |
| #10 Is it just me.... or does anyone else out there think these poor helpless bastards at the White House just sit up each night and plan for the release of their next insane scheme for the following day? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-08-24 15:25 |
| #9 Sort of begs a couple of questions: 1. If there no longer is any "war on terror" why is this capability needed? 2. Ok, so lets say the capability is in fact needed. What, or I should say who's 'priority intelligence requirement' will this effort drive or respond to and where will the fusion be conducted? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-08-24 15:22 |
| #8 "Unless of course healthcare dissidents are now considered terrorists." Of course they are, wcrn. Haven't you been paying attention to Bambi & Co.? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-08-24 15:11 |
| #7 Wow! THAT IS really stupid. Do they have any idea what they are doing? /Put on tinfoil hat/ Unless of course healthcare dissidents are now considered terrorists. Then it makes perfect sense. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2009-08-24 15:09 |
| #6 As if layering and departmental bureacracy within the Intelligence Community isn't bad enough already. Let me ask if I may, what Intelligence Community rules and operational oversight will this august body be governed by? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-08-24 15:07 |
| #5 Now we will get some 'information' from those dissenters at the town hall meetings. BWAHAHAHAHA |
| Posted by: SteveS 2009-08-24 14:02 |
| #4 Does this mean we'll have a "Terror Czar"? Good lord, Holder is ready to prosecute CIA agents who interrogated suspected terrorists by holding up an electric drill to their faces. Wonder if Holder would ever prosecute a NSC agent? |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-08-24 13:37 |
| #3 High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group = Obama's goons. Yup, he owns 'em! |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2009-08-24 12:09 |
| #2 This is about as frigging stupid and potenially damaging as anything he could ever do. As a young LT in the Army we learned to never take a prisoner to or let the commander talk to prisoners. The reason is you must always protect the commander from any fallout when dealing with the prisoner. Now we have numbnut POTUS wanting the control of iterrogations to fall directly under his office? Now when an accusation is made the line to the President is direct. The world court and the UN can charge directly to the President. When the next president gets into power, god I hope soon, and he distances himself from tactical operations the loons at the UN and around the world will scream. Just what has this president done in the last five months that he has not screwed up????? |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-08-24 12:00 |
| #1 Office of Officious Sadism and Pious Pseudo-Torture OOSPPT. Has a certain ring to it, doesn't it? |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2009-08-24 11:10 |