CIA and torture

[Bob]

Would-be attorney general Eric Holder haunted by Marc Rich pardon - Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Washington ? Seven years ago, after his name was dragged very publicly through the mud in a Clinton administration pardon scandal, President-elect Barack Obama's top pick for attorney general was certain that his long and successful career in public service was at an end.

"I'm done. Public life's over for me," Eric H. Holder Jr. told the Washington Post in March 2001. "I had a moment in time. That moment has passed."

Holder, who had been President Clinton's deputy attorney general, appears to have been wrong. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Holder "will be the pick," one Democratic official close to the Obama transition team said Wednesday. But his much-disputed role in Clinton's pardons, particularly that of fugitive financier Marc Rich, is coming back to haunt him.

When a White House lawyer called Holder on the last day of the Clinton administration, Holder said he was "neutral, leaning toward favorable" about the pardon. Later, he said he was unaware of some aspects of Rich's background.

Clinton and his aides said Holder's input was a factor in the decision to pardon Rich, whose ex-wife, Denise, was a frequent visitor to the White House and a major donor to Democratic campaigns and to Clinton's presidential library.

Marc Rich - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

nice deflection

 

[Bob]

bob, im impressed that you would post this. without me guessing which seams to be all to easy, what are your thoughts on this? this should be interesting folks......

you white pinknecks are big on the founding slaveholding fathers. would the founding slaveholding fathers condone torture? would they use hand drills instead of electric drills. would we be the shining city on the hill waterboarding prisoners? where is that torture paragraph in the constitution?

 

[TooFarTampa]

so because newsweek says so it means its real? I think we all know how credible newsweek has become-not!

Fact is, the president makes the final call-period. This is both a gift to the far-left and a distraction from the health reform debate. Thats politics and obama has mastered the political game of minipulation.

What the president hasnt figured out thus far is to not have the cia on your side is a big mistake. Can you imagine being one of these operatives and have to worry about some leftist attorney instead of the lives of perhaps thousands of americans? I dont care what an operative "says" to "threaten" someone in order to save american lives. If i knew my family was in danger, id cut the bastards arms off if thats what it took. And dont give me this nonsense that our place in the world is important. If it werent for the smearing coming from the left constantly for political gain, perhaps our place in the world would be better. And who cares what the rest of the world thinks anyway? They will always be jelous of our success. In this case, it thwarted further attacks and absolutely saved american lives. These lives would be past tense if it were up to the left-period.

But, proceed with smearing them and providing comfort to the enemy with such words and accusations. The enemy has echoed these kinds of words on almost every propaganda piece and will continue to do so until they are defeated.

By all means, if you can find a credible, sourced item that indicates that Obama is the one pushing for this, by all means please link to it. I could find no such talk except from Mr. Cheney (who has too much to lose to be considered unbiased).

Meantime, there was this at foxnews.com, which, like every other report I have seen, indicates that in the end this was Holder's call, which is of course his right (and apparently he sees it as his duty):

Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, on Tuesday predicted that the investigation will disrupt CIA counterrorism initiatives in Afghanistan.

"President Obama has said repeatedly that he wants to move forward, but his Justice Department seems intractably stuck in reverse. ... The attorney general needs to stop his zealous attempt to make this out to be a systemic problem," Hoekstra said.

"Disgruntled lawyers at DOJ, having lost the debate that America's counterrorism efforts, should be focused on prevention not prosecution, (and) need to put an end to his bureaucratic turf battle," he continued.

I have mixed emotions about the whole probe and frankly, am not qualified to offer an opinion as to whether the investigation is a good idea. However I do find the tension between Obama and Holder very interesting. To suggest that there isn't any on this issue, and that Obama is merely "creating a diversion," just seems ludicrous at this point.

 

[jack S]

Allot of deflection, no meat! If a country authorizes torture, it is a terrorist nation! You have NO right to torture in my name!
Infantrymen, of which I was one once when I was young, will suffer more than usual if the empire accepts the dark side as OK with them! perhaps you never served in the big green man eating machine, but trust me there is really little concern from the likes of a cheney for the soldiers who bear the brunt of this.

 

[30A Skunkape]

you white pinknecks are big on the founding slaveholding fathers. would the founding slaveholding fathers condone torture? would they use hand drills instead of electric drills. would we be the shining city on the hill waterboarding prisoners? where is that torture paragraph in the constitution?

If one could find documentation of one of the founders participating in a tarring and feathering, I think one could make an argument that they did indeed condone torture!

 

[Yarmap]

Allot of deflection, no meat! If a country authorizes torture, it is a terrorist nation! You have NO right to torture in my name!
Infantrymen, of which I was one once when I was young, will suffer more than usual if the empire accepts the dark side as OK with them! perhaps you never served in the big green man eating machine, but trust me there is really little concern from the likes of a cheney for the soldiers who bear the brunt of this.

jack s----------Did you try to get one of those hardship early outs to go cut sugarcane in Cuba? I knew some who applied but were saddly turned down by the mean old US Government.

 

[LuciferSam]

Terrorists need a little jack...

The favorite toture-porn star of the worldwide wingnut association. I hear he's got a really big prod.

 

[sunspotbaby]

The favorite toture-porn star of the worldwide wingnut association. I hear he's got a really big prod.

hey, i don't need the visual. but thanks anyway..

 

[condomimi]

so because newsweek says so it means its real? I think we all know how credible newsweek has become-not!

Fact is, the president makes the final call-period. This is both a gift to the far-left and a distraction from the health reform debate. Thats politics and obama has mastered the political game of minipulation.

What the president hasnt figured out thus far is to not have the cia on your side is a big mistake. Can you imagine being one of these operatives and have to worry about some leftist attorney instead of the lives of perhaps thousands of americans? I dont care what an operative "says" to "threaten" someone in order to save american lives. If i knew my family was in danger, id cut the bastards arms off if thats what it took. And dont give me this nonsense that our place in the world is important. If it werent for the smearing coming from the left constantly for political gain, perhaps our place in the world would be better. And who cares what the rest of the world thinks anyway? They will always be jelous of our success. In this case, it thwarted further attacks and absolutely saved american lives. These lives would be past tense if it were up to the left-period.

But, proceed with smearing them and providing comfort to the enemy with such words and accusations. The enemy has echoed these kinds of words on almost every propaganda piece and will continue to do so until they are defeated.

Thanks for saying what so many of us are thinking! You summed it up well!

 

[condomimi]

you white pinknecks are big on the founding slaveholding fathers. would the founding slaveholding fathers condone torture? would they use hand drills instead of electric drills. would we be the shining city on the hill waterboarding prisoners? where is that torture paragraph in the constitution?

Where were the airplanes and bombs when our country was founded? I am proud of my "redneck" if that is what it means to be a Conservative Patriot who wants to see our country regain its rightful place in the world. NO - I do not want to be a part of the World Order. The United States of America is superior to other countries because of our Constitution and the spirit of the founding fathers still alive in many of us. We will do what is necessary to protect our country, its citizens and defend our Constitution and way of life.