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| Home Front: Politix |
| CIA officials who identified European detention sites ID'd |
| 2006-02-12 |
| The CIA’s top counter-terrorism official was fired last week because he opposed detaining Al-Qaeda suspects in secret prisons abroad, sending them to other countries for interrogation and using forms of torture such as “water boarding”, intelligence sources have claimed. Robert Grenier, head of the CIA counter-terrorism centre, was relieved of his post after a year in the job. One intelligence official said he was “not quite as aggressive as he might have been” in pursuing Al-Qaeda leaders and networks. Vincent Cannistraro, a former head of counter-terrorism at the agency, said: “It is not that Grenier wasn’t aggressive enough, it is that he wasn’t ‘with the programme’. He expressed misgivings about the secret prisons in Europe and the rendition of terrorists.” Grenier also opposed “excessive” interrogation, such as strapping suspects to boards and dunking them in water, according to Cannistraro. Porter Goss, who was appointed head of the CIA in August 2004 with a mission to “clean house”, has been angered by a series of leaks from CIA insiders, including revelations about “black sites” in Europe where top Al-Qaeda detainees were said to have been held. In last Friday’s New York Times, Goss wrote that leakers within the CIA were damaging the agency’s ability to fight terrorism and causing foreign intelligence organisations to lose confidence. “Too many of my counterparts from other countries have told me, ‘You Americans can’t keep a secret’.” Goss is believed to have blamed Grenier for allowing leaks to occur on his watch. Since the appointment of Goss, the CIA has lost almost all its high-level directors amid considerable turmoil. AB “Buzzy” Krongard, a former executive director of the CIA who resigned shortly after Goss’s arrival, said the leaks were unlikely to stop soon, despite proposals to subject officers to more lie detector tests. Krongard said it was up to President George Bush to stop the rot. “The agency has only one client: the president of the United States,” he said. “The reorganisation is the way this president wanted it. If he is unwilling to reform it, the agency will go on as it is.” “History will judge how good an idea it was to destroy the teams and the programmes that were in place.” |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #17 |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2006-02-12 02:22 |
| #16 The UN can sod off LOL. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2006-02-12 23:18 |
| #15 From the Telegraph in London....early info: A UN inquiry has called for the immediate closure of America's Guantanamo Bay detention centre and the prosecution of officers and politicians who are accused of torturing detainees. Looks like the tin foil hats are going to have a field day Monday |
| Posted by: Inspector Clueso 2006-02-12 21:48 |
| #14 I'll second that .Com / SPOD and all US other Americans that are so in the old sence Americans were you had to actually love America to qualify. You can't claim to be American then do all you can to Hate and harm America's interest. Its way past time for our leaders to get a sack and call a spade a spade. I want to hear from the top something like this "Hell Yeah I question your partiotism when you do X Seditionist/Treasonist act". This problem will continue to grow until we get some LEADERSHIP from the top that will demand PROSECUTION and then MAXIMUM sentence for these leakers its high Treason. The list of treasonous criminals is long from Gov insiders to Senators to Staff. Their was a time in this nation when government officials especially in a time of war saw it more important to protect a war effort than their partisan political views. By the way the NYTÂ’s reporters are still today writing stories. Their reporters should be in prison the newspaper for not honoring a government request to hold info should be sanctioned and their license revoked. |
| Posted by: C-Low 2006-02-12 18:01 |
#13 Took me awhile to find it, but... |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-12 16:03 |
| #12 What .com said-- EVERY damn word of it. Exactly WHAT is the editorial policy here? Why was SPoD's comment "redacted", while you people allow some fucking idiot to come in here day after day after day and post his obnoxious "Bush lied, people died" bullshit over and over again?????? Is it Rantburg's position that the CIA leakers are NOT traitors???? If so, I want to hear it, up-front; then I'll be on my way. If that's NOT Rantburg's position, then why the Hell was SPoD's comment deleted????? This PC stuff is BULLSHIT. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2006-02-12 15:59 |
| #11 I don't mind being sink trapped. The 22 pistol is the weapon of choice for professional hit men. I believe that the agency this traitor worked for would be well served to employ it against former employees whom do not keep their mouths shut. We are in a war. A judge and jury isn't necessary here. Real aid and comfort is being given to our Adversaries. This waste of sink should have been found in his car on some back road with a pistol in his hand and a hole in his head as soon as this info leaked to the press. QED. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2006-02-12 15:36 |
| #10 I've seen a lot of rants that should be clipped, but SPOD's, however pointed, rant should have not been clipped. His implication there is just overstating his frustration with the events at the agency. Let's not get too PC here at Rantburg. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-02-12 15:02 |
| #9 Steve, was it your position that we can advocate killing our foreign enemies but that we cannot advocate killing treasonous people who are our domestic enemies? Where do you draw the line for treason? Or was it the implication that the killing not be done within the system? Would a firing squad photo have been acceptable? Personally, I have no problem with sending a convicted CIA leaker to a very public and official firing squad. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2006-02-12 14:45 |
| #8 "Since the appointment of Goss, the CIA has lost almost all its high-level directors amid considerable turmoil." Carrying out the Clintoon trash. --- I'd like to offer what is, I'm sure, a minority view -- in favor of SPo'D's post... --- I think SPo'D's pic, and the sentiments it represents, was spot on. Dead solid fucking perfect. So spot on, in fact, that less strikes me as a lie - whereas SPo'D's was precisely to the point. Couldn't have been more accurate or succinct. These "people" are traitors - guilty of treason. What they have engaged in is no little prank or wrist-slap offense. They aren't whistle-blowers - they're traitors. The "people" in question hold extremely sensitive and powerful positions of trust and access within our government -- and are actively working against the elected government of the United States of America. It's called betrayal. Treason. By action or inaction, betrayal of trust via leaks and breaches of security, in violation of their sworn oaths, they have aided and abetted the enemies of the United States of America. If they had merely failed to faithfully carry out their sworn duties to the best of their ability, they'd be worthy of dismissal. They haven't merely broken their oaths, either - they consciously and actively seek to thwart effective action in support of the lawful policies promulgated by the current elected administration and in direct violation of the law. They seek to prevent the executive branch from fulfilling certain of its various constitutionally-mandated tasks through unlawful means. Job one is the security of the United States and protection of its citizens. The actions of these people have placed us all in jeopardy, directly and indirectly, and their actions will continue to do so long after they've been dismissed and, I hope, dealt with as criminals. They are traitors to the United States of America - that's us, y'know, so take it personally, already. They deserve no latitude, no quarter, no clemency, no sanctuary. I don't think this is quite getting through the PCism. This is Waay Big JuJu. This is for all the marbles. This is the crux of the fucking biscuit. In simpler terms, it's yo ass, and mine. SPo'D was dead right - that would be a fitting end for those who have placed themselves above the law, who aid and abet our enemies, who have betrayed us, who have committed treason*. If the pic is too un-PC, then post a scathing reply, or seethe, or take to the streets and burn an embassy. I prefer that sort of clarity of position to this sort of censureship. I think you've created a hole in the debate. It's one of those oddities of humans that is so endearing, heh. Everyone knows it's there. Everyone knows what should be there, whether or not they, themselves, would be willing to fill it in as honestly as SPo'D did. My take. * trea·son - n. 1. Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one's country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies. 2. A betrayal of trust or confidence. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-12 14:27 |
| #7 I'm here. C'mon guys, we don't need pics like that. I understand the sentiment, but remember, we're on the web. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2006-02-12 12:52 |
| #6 What would Jack Bauer do? |
| Posted by: DMFD 2006-02-12 12:51 |
| #5 That baby's been up a full shift now. Mods must be caught in the blizzard. (Global warming dontcha know?) |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-02-12 11:22 |
| #4 LOL SPoD! Yer gonna get it! |
| Posted by: 6 2006-02-12 10:37 |
| #3 Fire the entire CIA. Build up a different agency with known agents that to the fucking job. Let the rest languish in the unemployment line. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2006-02-12 09:15 |
| #2 He should not have just been fired. He leaked to the press, should go to jail. Porter's house cleaning is much overdue. |
| Posted by: 49 pan 2006-02-12 08:40 |
#1
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| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2006-02-12 02:22 |