GOP Leader Blog
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Administration Undermining the War on Terror by Targeting the CIA
Posted by
Kevin Boland
on
August 31, 2009
Last week, the Obama Administration reversed course and decided to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate CIA officials who questioned Al Qaeda terrorists, despite the fact that those interrogations yielded invaluable information which saved American lives, according to a newly released report. As recently as April, the President said that "I think that we should be looking forward and not backwards. I do worry about this getting so politicized that we cannot function effectively, and it hampers our ability to carry out critical national security operations." The President had it right the first time. Unfortunately, the Administration's actions will only serve to undermine morale at the CIA, besmirch the reputations of those men and women who have kept America safe since 9/11, and keep the CIA from doing its job of disrupting the terrorists and preventing future attacks. The Los Angeles Times reported last week that the Administration's actions will hurt the nation's ability to effectively wage the War on Terror:
The investigation means that CIA counter-terrorism officials could face criminal scrutiny for years at a time when the agency and the Justice Department are supposed to be part of a seamless counter-terrorism team and contributing to a new elite interrogation outfit, which was also unveiled Monday.At the center of the controversy surrounding the Administration's decision to appoint a special prosecutor was the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (EIT) on hardened terrorists in the wake of 9/11. Though these EITs have since been banned, they were extremely effective at extracting information from known terrorists that disrupted several terrorists plots - including plans to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge and the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles. On the same day that the Administration announced it was declaring war on the CIA, the Agency released a 2004 "Special Review" on "counterterrorism detention and interrogation activities (September 2001-October 2003)" by former CIA Inspector General John Helgerson, which confirmed the success of the EIT program: The detention of terrorists has prevented them from engaging in further terrorist activity, and their interrogation has provided intelligence that has enabled the identification and apprehension of other terrorists, warned of terrorist plots planned for the United States and around the world, and supported articles frequently used in the finished intelligence publications for senior policymakers and war fighters. In this regard, there is no doubt that the Program has been effective.House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) accurately described the Administration's appointment of a special prosecutor, stating last week that "The Obama Administration's decision smacks more of a witch hunt designed to satisfy political allies than a strategy to keep the American people safe." The President's instincts were right the first time - it's wrong and counterproductive to investigate the men and women of our intelligence community who have done an outstanding job of protecting America in the years since the 9/11 attacks. |