Buck Naked Politics

More Evidence of Bush Administration Untruths re: Iraq

by Deb Cupples |  God, I'll miss Rep. Henry Waxman when he leaves the House Oversight Committee next  month.  He digs up information -- better than most members of Congress and even our FBI, it seems-- and he doggedly ensures that we taxpayers hear about it. 

As a good-bye gift, Rep. Waxman gives us an 11-page memo, outlining evidence that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may have lied to Congress when arguing that our nation should invade Iraq partly on the grounds that Iraq was (allegedly) enriching uranium.

Here's an excerpt from that memo:

Former Interrogator Still Tormented by Recollections of Practices Used in Iraq

by Damozel | "Matthew Alexander"---writing under a nom de guerre for security reasons---led the team of interrogators hunted down the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq (Abu Musab al-Zarqawi) and authored a book called "How to Break a Terrorist." (WaPo)  Despite his success, he continues to be tortured (his word) by recollections of what he saw as an interrogator in Iraq.

Nothing he says in this article is different from what opponents of torture, including military opponents of torture, have been saying all along.   But as it's a powerful statement of the case against torture---or, as I believe they're known, "enhanced interrogation techniques"---I think it should be added to the accumulating evidence that torture is the last refuge of chickenhawks who think real life is well portrayed by what they see in "24."  But Alexander, an interrogator who has served 14 years in the Air Force, says:  "What I saw in Iraq still rattles me---both because it betrays our traditions and because it just doesn't work....." (WaPo)

Northeastern Corridor of AmTrak Targeted by Al Qaeda?

by Damozel | According to ABC News, the FBI calls the threat is called "plausible but unsubstantiated."

Law enforcement officials tell ABCNews.com, the plot involved a "Madrid-like attack," a reference to the synchronized bombing of the commuter rail system in Spain in March 2004 that killed 191 people. (ABC News)

The report has a link to the full text of the warning.  The evidence is derived from the reports of a terror suspect arrested by the FBI in Pakistan. 

Brennan Takes Name off List for Intelligence Job in Obama Administration

 by Deb Cupples  |   John Brennan was the intelligence adviser to Barrack Obama during the campaign.  What upset many legal scholars and progressives (and even many libertarians) is that Mr. Brennan fully supported President Bush's anti-accountability policy aimed at giving retroactive immunity to Telecom companies that had broken the law when helping the Bush Administration illegally spy on Americans.

For weeks now, media folks and bloggers had speculated that Mr. Brennan would join the Obama Adminsitration as CIA Director or Director of National Intelligence (or in some other intelligence-related position). 

Those speculations were dashed today, when Mr. Brennan wrote a letter to Mr. Obama, in which the latter withdrew his name from consideration for an intelligence-related position in the Obama Administration. (MSNBC)  

Federal Judge Orders Release of Five Guantanamo Detainees

by Damozel |  In a habeas corpus case which looked at the administration's evidence for the detention of five Algerians, Judge Richard J. Leon of the Federal District Court in DC---a Bush appointee--- administered what The New York Times calls "a sharp setback" to the Bush administration by ruling they were held unlawfully.

Setback?  Setback?  That's a strange phrase to use now that the Bush administration is on the way out and these Algerians have been imprisoned now for how long?  "Seven years."  That's seven--count 'em---seven years of being unlawfully detained by our government.  

Obama's First Challenge: Domestic Spying

by Damozel | Obama's going to have to make decisions straight off the bat on domestic spying and civil liberties.  As The New York Times so rightly observes,  these "will test his administration’s views on presidential power and civil liberties."   Is it wrong that a little part of me hopes he will hang on to them just long enough to scare the bejesus out of conservatives who happily ceded them to Bush?  It is?  Ah. 

Well, that's okay.  The real comic possibilities of a Democratic president with all Bush's (and Cheney's!) powers went out the window when Obama beat Hillary in the primaries.  So I hope Obama will do the right thing.   Anyway, here's where it starts:

Intelligence Officers Hayden & McConnell Think Obama will Fire Them: WaPo Thinks it's Just Politics?

by Deb Cupples |   Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and CIA Director Michael Hayden reportedly want to keep their jobs but suspect that President-elect Barack Obama will replace them when he takes office. 

A Washington Post writer seems to think that congressional Democrats want to get rid of McConnell and Hayden purely for political reasons: i.e., because they supported President Bush's (egregious or potentially illegal) policies.

I don't know about Mr. Hayden, but I can think of non-political reasons for getting rid of Mr. McConnell -- starting with the fact that he twice made misleading statements to Congress (I say "made misleading statements," some say "lied"). 

FBI "Improperly Obtained" Journalists' Phone Records?

by Deb Cupples |   According to yesterday's New York Times, the FBI has admitted to improperly obtaining the phone records of reporters for the Washington Post and New York Times Indonesia bureaus back in 2004.

Why are visions of Richard Nixon and the Watergate building (photo left) flashing in my mind?  The Times reported:

Harry Shearer Sings '935 Lies' (from 'Songs of the Bushmen')

H/t Jesus's General '  (MDC: From Harry's new record Songs of the Bushmen. Releasing via digital download only, Songs of The Bushmen can be purchased from the iTunes store here.)

'A Landmark Day for Torture-Disclosure' (Updated)

by Damozel | The ACLU has released some crucial memoranda which reveal the tortuous path by which the Bush Administration's Department of 'Justice' taught the CIA to rationalize its way to a distinction between 'enhanced interrogation' and plain old-fashioned 'torture.'  The Justice Department told the CIA that agents would be safe from prosecution if they they believed 'in good faith' that flies don't have feelings so it doesn't matter if they pull the wings off them, according to the AP.  I may have paraphrased a bit.  I know they don't like being quoted. 

Put it another way, you could say that the  standard articulated in the memos works something like this: 'Use only those enhanced interrogation techniques that wouldn't shock the conscience of a sociopath.'  At that, it's hard to believe that they drew the line at waterboarding.  Evidently the CIA doesn't have as many agents who think like sociopaths as television and films would lead you to believe.  One effect of all this information is to make me feel a little better about them.  They might have done so much more.

Taxpayers Lose Money on FBI Contracts: Incompetence, Complicity or Lack of Concern?

by Deb Cupples |  A willing accomplice or someone who just doesn't care about wasted tax dollars likely thinks it's better to appear incompetent than unconcerned or knowingly complicit in waste, fraud or abuse.  I don't believe for an instant that the folks handling the FBI's private contracts are too stupid to anticipate problems or learn from mistakes.  Some of it is just sooo elementary.

In May 2001, DynCorp got (what was supposed to be) a $132 million contract for the FBI's Trilogy project, aimed at upgrading the FBI's computer networks worldwide.  DynCorp's contract bid beat out bids from other companies including Lockheed Martin. (Washington Technology).

Fast forward to 2004, when the GAO audited the Trilogy project (after cost overruns and  performance problems).  The GAO found the actual costs tush far to be about $537 million and that a major part of the project was unfeasible despite the (tax) money so far spent.

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft: Waterboarding Isn't Torture

by Damozel | Do you know what evil looks like when it finds a voice?  It looks like an upstanding member of the religious right arguing perfectly damn seriously that the end (national security) justifies the means (torture) if you truly believe that the nation is craven enough to sell out its principles and decency and that torture works.  It speaks through the mouth of a family man in a sober suit on sitting on a big pile of good intentions with the flag in one hand and a Bible in the other, earnestly arguing there are times when it's right -- even courageous -- to do wrong.  It uses him and his education, family values, patriotism, and other virtues to make its case.

And it makes me sad.  I look at the tape of Ashcroft (after the jump) and I just feel so bad for him.  Not as bad as I feel for the victims of torture, the Constitution, the reputation of our nation, and our honor as a people, but still:  pretty bad.  He may be a man who aspires to do the right thing -- I believe this --- but the ideas speaking through him are so wrong. They've been around since the human race evolved and they've always been wrong and they won't go away.

Bush Shoots Congress the Bird Again

by Deb Cupples |   Either ours is a nation of laws or not.  Apparently, the Bush Administration thinks not.

Yesterday, President Bush -- with Attorney General Michael Mukasey's support -- indicated that he would assert executive privilege to prevent the House Oversight Committee from viewing a report on the FBI's interview of Vice President Dick Cheney regarding the leaking of ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson's identity by White House staffers in 2003.

The Oversight Committee issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for the report in June. Committee chairman Henry Waxman responded:

Stuart Taylor at Newsweek: 'We Must Pardon the Torture Sanctioners...'

by Teh Nutroots |....then they can apologize to the 'Truth Commission' Taylor will set up and we can all move on. 

Did I read this wrong?  Nope: 'To get a full accounting of how U.S. interrogation methods were used, the president should give those accused of 'war crimes' a pass.'   I get angry and then I start spluttering and foam flecks fly out my mouth.  Instead of denouncing this tripe in coherent fashion, I point shaking fingers and make little squealing sounds. 

Here's Brad at Sadly, No! with some graphic photos showing, if you've already forgotten, what makes a war crime a WAR CRIME. 

My Visit to the Capitol and Up-Close Observations During the FISA Votes

by Deb Cupples |    I was in our nation's capitol from July 3 - 10.  Among the highlights of my week-long visit was coffee at the Mayflower Hotel with NQ's Larry Johnson.  It was even more fun conversing with him than reading his blog posts.

Another highlight was watching the FISA votes from the Senate visitors' gallery at the capitol. Senators Clinton and Obama were there, as were Leahy, Dodd, Webb and Specter.  It was my version of a star-studded movie premier.  Sadly geeky, I know.

Rice Issues Warning to Iran; Drumbeats Grow Louder

by Damozel | Iran has said that it tested missiles again and Condi rejoined that we would defend our allies, i.e., Israel, if they are attacked. (NYT)  It's seemed quite clear to me all along that Israel is determined that if Iran doesn't capitulate --- which Iran says it will not --- that Israel is determined to strike. 

So it seems a transparent piece of double-speak for Rice to talk about "defense."  Isn't this what she's really saying:  "If Iran doesn't either do what Israel and a number of other countries tell it to do, and Israel strikes, Iran must submit to the attack or we'll come in on Israel's side? "

FISA: How They Voted and What it Means

by Damozel | This piece of legislation --- and what Congress has done to the fourth amendment---which protects the privacy of ordinary citizens from unreasonable invasion by the government ---  matters. 

Those who defended the telecoms for breaking federal law at the request of the Bush administration kept talking about the telecoms' subjection to  'the heavy hand of government.'  This was always spurious argument in the case of the telecoms, who had no more obligation than you or I to comply with an unlawful demand to break the law (none) and the same obligation as you or I would have to refuse to comply. And in fact, not all telecoms chose to go along with the demand.    

FISA, on the other hand, unleashes 'the heavy hand of government' on ordinary citizens.

Senator Clinton's Statement on FISA

She voted against the bill, Obama voted for it, and McCain didn't vote, but supported it.  Her speech follows.  I disagree with her that it is a 'difficult issue,' but we all know why she said it.  Here's her statement.

One of the great challenges before us as a nation is remaining steadfast in our fight against terrorism while preserving our commitment to the rule of law and individual liberty. As a senator from New York on September 11, I understand the importance of taking any and all necessary steps to protect our nation from those who would do us harm. I believe strongly that we must modernize our surveillance laws in order to provide intelligence professionals the tools needed to fight terrorism and make our country more secure.

Tracking the Course of the Bush-Cheney Juggernaut As It Lurches Toward Iran

by Damozel | As I noted yesterday, the Iranians have announced that their policy on uranium enrichment remains unchanged despite attempts by several nations to persuade them to cease and desist.

Barring a complete capitulation by the Iranians, which no one really believes is on the cards, is it possible that Bush and Cheney will leave office without opening a third military front in Iran? Is there really any doubt that Bush fully expects the diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran to comply with the demands of the US and Israel to fail? And that when the failure inevitably occurs, he is highly or at least quite likely to take or enable military action?

Bear in mind that I'm just a simple citizeness trying to piece together the signs in the media so I at least know what direction we'€™re rolling in. I don’t have any specialist knowledge in international law or military defense. I'm not about to get into a fight with anyone about which country is most in the wrong here.

Three Reasons Cited In Support of Telecom Amnesty that Aren't

by Damozel | I happen to think the FISA bill is a terrible piece of legislation -- and not just because of the telecom issue --- but I am pretty sure it's going to pass.  That's not what this is about.

What's bothering me are the reasons I'm hearing from various highly-placed public officials why I and America need this so-called compromise. Do they take me for a fool?  Yes, they take me for a fool.  Either that, or they are banking on the entire American public being as civics-impaired as rumored.  In any case, we're being played, possibly in the hope that if they say enough soothing things about why America needs FISA because national security requires it we'll get bored with the whole thing or frightened and drop it.  (I mean, who really believes anymore that we have any privacy?  Not me.)