radfringe
05-20-2009, 02:11 AM
I know many here are not fans of Pelosi - however Pelosi is not the monster-under-the-bed in the Torture controversy. If Pelosi is guilty of anything, it's for not standing up and speaking out. We can say Dems and even some Repubs are guilty of just sitting down and shutting up.
The NOPers are making alot of noise regarding Pelosi's role in Torture. It's apparant they are trying to pin it all on Pelosi, as if she ordered and personally participated in torture.
To note: With one known exception, no formal objections were raised by the lawmakers briefed about the harsh methods during the two years in which waterboarding was employed, from 2002 to 2003, said Democrats and Republicans with direct knowledge of the matter. The lawmakers who held oversight roles during the period included Pelosi and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) and Sens. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), as well as Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.) and Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan).
Also note - The Republicans were the ruling party in the house and senate and the white house during this time. Anyone raising public objections to the war(s) were immediately tarred and feathered as being UnAmerican, UnPatriotic and not supporting the troops. Public opinion was behind bush-cheney.
Various parts of the most recently revealed statements/reports regarding the briefings:
--Graham's notes indicate he attended no briefings on 3 out of the 4 dates listed by the CIA
--Errors in a list of who attended the briefings, which included an aide who acted as an escort to the meetings but wasn't allowed to stay in the room.
--Use of EIT (Enhanced Interrogation Techniques) acronym in the briefing meeting notes. EIT did not become the "term du jour" until 2006, 3-4 years after the 2002-2003 briefings.
--Panetta's cover letter stating neither he nor the CIA could vouch for the accuracy of the briefing records.
--lack of sufficient evidence in what has been released to show conclusively that Pelosi or other House Intel members were told TORTURE was going on during that time, and not just under consideration
In their zeal, the NOPers have opened a big can of worms. Just a couple of months ago, they were wailing and wringing their hands over a "truth commission" to investigate bush-cheney et al regarding war crimes and other matters.
"It's a witch hunt!!" they wailed.
And now.. Gingrich and others are calling for a house investigation into Pelosi's involvement. Cheney is flapping is jowls all over the media. NOPers are mounting the pulpit, expressing "outrage".
Investigate, Newt? Release documents, Dick? By all means, let's investigate, let's release ALL the documents (not just cherry ones). Let's dig down deep into the can of worms, see what's at the bottom and not just skim the top layer.
Let's investigate instead of having a trial by newpaper ink. Let's ask the hard questions about torture, about what led to invading Iraq, how intel was cherry picked - who knows if it's a real investigating instead of a witch hunt or whitewash - we may even find out some dirty secrets regarding 9/11.
The NOPers are making alot of noise regarding Pelosi's role in Torture. It's apparant they are trying to pin it all on Pelosi, as if she ordered and personally participated in torture.
To note: With one known exception, no formal objections were raised by the lawmakers briefed about the harsh methods during the two years in which waterboarding was employed, from 2002 to 2003, said Democrats and Republicans with direct knowledge of the matter. The lawmakers who held oversight roles during the period included Pelosi and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) and Sens. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), as well as Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.) and Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan).
Also note - The Republicans were the ruling party in the house and senate and the white house during this time. Anyone raising public objections to the war(s) were immediately tarred and feathered as being UnAmerican, UnPatriotic and not supporting the troops. Public opinion was behind bush-cheney.
Various parts of the most recently revealed statements/reports regarding the briefings:
--Graham's notes indicate he attended no briefings on 3 out of the 4 dates listed by the CIA
--Errors in a list of who attended the briefings, which included an aide who acted as an escort to the meetings but wasn't allowed to stay in the room.
--Use of EIT (Enhanced Interrogation Techniques) acronym in the briefing meeting notes. EIT did not become the "term du jour" until 2006, 3-4 years after the 2002-2003 briefings.
--Panetta's cover letter stating neither he nor the CIA could vouch for the accuracy of the briefing records.
--lack of sufficient evidence in what has been released to show conclusively that Pelosi or other House Intel members were told TORTURE was going on during that time, and not just under consideration
In their zeal, the NOPers have opened a big can of worms. Just a couple of months ago, they were wailing and wringing their hands over a "truth commission" to investigate bush-cheney et al regarding war crimes and other matters.
"It's a witch hunt!!" they wailed.
And now.. Gingrich and others are calling for a house investigation into Pelosi's involvement. Cheney is flapping is jowls all over the media. NOPers are mounting the pulpit, expressing "outrage".
Investigate, Newt? Release documents, Dick? By all means, let's investigate, let's release ALL the documents (not just cherry ones). Let's dig down deep into the can of worms, see what's at the bottom and not just skim the top layer.
Let's investigate instead of having a trial by newpaper ink. Let's ask the hard questions about torture, about what led to invading Iraq, how intel was cherry picked - who knows if it's a real investigating instead of a witch hunt or whitewash - we may even find out some dirty secrets regarding 9/11.