The 'Torture Report' and the Usual Suspects

[Draggingtree]

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December 13, 2014

The 'Torture Report' and the Usual Suspects

By Sally Zelikovksy

By far the best and boldest response to the Feinstein Report has come from Professor John Yoo in his National Review article. An attorney for the Office of Legal Counsel during the Bush Administration, Yoo explains how Obama Administration policies have decimated our intelligence community and hampered our ability to fight terrorism and protect the homeland, correctly concluding: “It will take the election of a Republican

to the White House again to restore the intelligence agencies and our proper place in the world.

 

And therein lies what I believe to be the sole motivation for the release of this report at this time -- not spite from Democrats because of their recent rout by the Republicans, not a last hoorah for the Feinstein legacy, not the need to shed sunlight on America’s tawdry past, and most certainly not a way for Senate Democrats to assuage their guilt for having thrown their full weight and support behind Enhanced Interrogation Techniques.

[Draggingtree]

DECEMBER 10, 2014 11:00 AM

 

Ignoring Risks to National Security

The Feinstein report reflects the Democratic party’s contempt for U.S. intelligence agencies.

 

By John Yoo

Yesterday’s release of a critical, one-sided report on the Bush-era interrogations of terrorist leaders will assume a place in the annals of congressional recklessness. Led by Senator Dianne Feinstein and conducted only by Democrats, the partisan investigation in the short term could provoke retaliation against Americans. In the longer term, it could reveal secrets to our terrorist enemies and dry up sources of cooperation with other countries.

 

But these effects will pale in comparison with the harm that Feinstein and her Democratic colleagues will do to our intelligence agencies. Their faithlessness will only discourage intelligence officers now, and in the future, to press the envelope to identify and stop future terrorist threats to the nation. We cannot blame CIA agents who will doubt the empty promises of support from politicians the next time that they are asked to risk their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to keep our nation safe. Combined with the Obama administration’s disheartening lack of support for the intelligence community, congressional attacks will only harm our security while threats to the nation are on the rise.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/394341/ignoring-risks-national-security-john-yoo