State Department Official Freaks Out That Declassifying CIA Torture Report Might Make The World Angr

[unhappycamper]

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140404/15140726804/state-department-official-freaks-out-that-declassifying-cia-torture-report-might-make-world-angry-us.shtml

State Department Official Freaks Out That Declassifying CIA Torture Report Might Make The World Angry
from the it's-not-the-declassification... dept
by Mike Masnick
Fri, Apr 4th 2014 6:39pm

While the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to declassify its $40 million, 6,300 page report detailing the CIA's torture regime -- including the facts that it went beyond what was authorized, produced no useful intelligence and then the CIA lied about it all -- three members of the Committee voted against it. Senators James Risch, Dan Coats (though, who knows if he had any idea what he was voting on) and Marco Rubio all voted against declassifying, with Risch and Rubio putting out a statement claiming that the State Department didn't want the report declassified.

The Senate Intelligence Committee today voted to send a one-sided, partisan report to the CIA and White House for declassification despite warnings from the State Department and our allies indicating that declassification of this report could endanger the lives of American diplomats and citizens overseas and jeopardize U.S. relations with other countries. Therefore, we could not support declassification of this product at this time.

This raised some eyebrows, since the Obama administration has consistently said it supported declassification, even as the CIA was fighting it. Still, it's rare that the State Department would actively contradict the White House. However, the Daily Beast now has more details on the State Department's desire to block the declassification:

A senior Senate aide told The Daily Beast that the Rubio-Risch statement referred to a June 2013 classified letter to senators signed by Philip Goldberg, who at the time served as the State Department’s top intelligence official. The warning was in reference to the fact that the report contains information about cooperation with foreign intelligence agencies and the existence of still-undisclosed CIA “black site” prisons in foreign countries where abuses may have occurred.

[newfie11]

1. Time to air W's war crimes

Last edited Sun Apr 6, 2014, 10:09 AM - Edit history (1)

Of course it will never happen. There will be many excuses to protect him, Cheney and their gestapo.

What has happened to my country or was I blind to the shenanigans before!

[bemildred]

2. You are supposed to think of these things beforehand, Grasshopper. nt