The Weekly StandardThe Obama administration has turned down former Vice President Dick Cheney’s request for the declassification of two CIA reports on the effectiveness of the Agency’s detainee program, THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned. A letter dated May 7, 2009, from the CIA’s Information and Privacy Coordinator, Delores M. Nelson, rejected Cheney’s request because the documents he has requested are involved in a Freedom of Information Act court battle.
“In researching the information in question, we have discovered that it is currently the subject of pending FOIA litigation (Bloche v. Department of Defense, Amnesty International v. Central Intelligence Agency). Therefore, the document is excluded from Mandatory Declassification Review,” Nelson wrote in the letter to the National Archives, the agency responsible for handling Cheney’s request.
The rejection of Cheney’s request will almost certainly intensify the public back-and-forth between the former vice president and the current administration. The contentious debate over enhanced interrogation exploded on April 16, when Obama authorized the release of four memos on interrogation prepared by the Bush Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. In a statement accompanying the release, Obama pointed to “exceptional circumstances” surrounding the memos that required their declassification and release. Four days later, in an interview on Fox News, Cheney revealed that he had requested the declassification of two memos that demonstrate that the techniques were effective.
White House officials have told reporters and members of Congress that the Cheney memos do not bolster the case for enhanced interrogation, as Cheney has suggested. But they have nonetheless refused to release them. President Obama has the legal authority to declassify the documents “with the wave of his hand,” according to one expert.
The Weekly Standard
This is BS.
Now the Obama administration is blocking the release of memo's requested by the former VP base don legalistic horse**** WHILE making sure they imply over and over the documents don't say what Chaney says they do.
Hey Obama --****TRANPSARENCY****-- remember that?..or you "never noticed" your own mouth again?
You release the documents and let the people make the decisions in regards to the worth of their content. You don't say no no only what I wanted released will be released and I'll imply what the content of the documents I won't release are in a manner favorable to me.
A senior Bush administration official points to the irony of Obama administration’s position -- using a FOIA technicality to block the public disclosure of information.
“So, because Amnesty International has filed a broad FOIA request for detainee related materials, the American people are unable to see memos that document the effectiveness of our detainee program. Wouldn’t the legal memos previously released also, presumably, have been subject to this FOIA? Why wasn’t their release blocked under the same provision?”
This entire torture debate has been a total disaster for the Anti-Republicans, and it would not surprise me at all if Dear Leader simply doesn't want to just wish it all away.
From the same article-
In all honesty, I have to wonder if Dear Leader isn't simply trying to stuff the genie back in the bottle. This fiasco is already threatening his mistress in Congress, and the Anti-Republicans are not scoring even PR points with this mess. All this brouhaha has accomplished is put a spotlight on the fact that Dear Leader ordered the closing of Gitmo without a solid plan for the detainees and was hoping to just sneak them into federal prisons around the US.
This entire torture debate has been a total disaster for the Anti-Republicans, and it would not surprise me at all if Dear Leader simply doesn't want to just wish it all away.
This entire torture debate has been a total disaster for the Anti-Republicans, and it would not surprise me at all if Dear Leader simply doesn't want to just wish it all away.
How exactly has the torture debate been a disaster for president Obama? I have not seen any real, serious negative fallout effecting him from this. What exactly have you seen?
Eh?So Anti-Republicans equals conservatives since you threw all the Republicans under the bus you guys could in 2006 and 2008 right LOL.
Good to know thanks.
To begin with, Congress stripping the funding for closing Gitmo.
Not to mention the drip,drip,drip of revelations about Pelosi.
Or the fact that he's compromised the morale of the CIA.
Or the fact that he's not been able to discuss much else of late. The torture debate is hogging the airwaves everywhere.
Or the fact that he and Holder both have had to come out and say specifically there will be no prosecutions.
Against those negatives, what has he gained? What policy point has he advanced that he did not already advance by ordering a prohibition on waterboarding in the future? What political advantage over the Republicans has he gained? From all that I have seen in the media, I can't see where the Republicans are exactly on the defensive about this.
Dear Leader has spent more political capital than he realizes, and has less to show for it than for the amount spent strong-arming his porkulus bill through Congress--in fact, he has nothing to show for it. In political terms, that's a disaster.
Agreed that he personally doesn't take it in the shorts the way the Anti-Republicans in Congress do, but, as Jimmy Carter found out, there is a steep price to be paid when you piss off Congress.I think President Obama would like to kick congress squarely in the head sometimes. Obama does not control congress, and they are, at times, acting the idiot when it comes to this. For the most part though, I think except in the eyes of the hyper-partisan right, only congress is really looking bad from all this. In fact, since Obama has done what I think most agree is the right thing and said no prosecutions, he looks good, congress looks bad.
Agreed that he personally doesn't take it in the shorts the way the Anti-Republicans in Congress do, but, as Jimmy Carter found out, there is a steep price to be paid when you piss off Congress.
Releasing the memos that set off this firestorm was a politically stupid and possibly a politically suicidal move. If he had clammed up then the way he is now, this story would be in yesterday's news cycle instead of remaining in today's.
So what we have is a "senior Bush administration official", who could be any one, and is probably biased, saying that there is a problem here. If the files are the subject of a lawsuit, then this could be very legitimate. A "senior Bush administration official" saying otherwise is pretty meaningless without more to back him up.
You really ought to lay off the Kool-Aid....the VAST majority of Americans are against torture under any circumstances, and Dick Cheney's popularity rating is almost as low as yours. Did you not hear the professional interrogator say that detainees talked UNTIL they were tortured and then clammed up? Bring on Cheney's memo's, I can't wait to see them, and hear your revised excuse once they are proved worthless.
No.
AMERICANS support doing whatever is necessary to get enemies who aren't covered by the GC to spill their guts concerning their plans.
You see, AMERICANS aren't overly concerned with the long-term viability of any particular terrorists we have in custody, once we've drained them of what we want from them, they should be out on the curb in time for the next garbage truck or pig farm.
What documents are being withheld? Aren't they the documents that will show WHAT proper interrogation of these animals has revealed and how that information has been used to protect the lives of US citizens?
Make believe the Bush administration official is one of the ones you guys highlight because he says what you want to hear then.
Ah yes..BUT few sentences on documents released by Obama is all the proof you needed that the acts "brought no results of merit"
Despite the counter claims by the former VP, CIA officials both past and present, and even Leon Panetta the current CIA director.
The Weekly Standard
This is BS.
Now the Obama administration is blocking the release of memo's requested by the former VP base don legalistic horse**** WHILE making sure they imply over and over the documents don't say what Chaney says they do.
Hey Obama --****TRANPSARENCY****-- remember that?..or you "never noticed" your own mouth again?
You release the documents and let the people make the decisions in regards to the worth of their content. You don't say no no only what I wanted released will be released and I'll imply what the content of the documents I won't release are in a manner favorable to me.
This is BS.
Now the Obama administration is blocking the release of memo's requested by the former VP base don legalistic horse**** WHILE making sure they imply over and over the documents don't say what Chaney says they do.
Ahhh, another "centrist". Well, WillRockwell now has company. :roll:Hey, Cheney... It's over Johnny. You served. You stole. You're out. Nah, nah, nah, nah..Hey-hey-hey... Go awa-aay!
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