Debate Erupts on Techniques Used by C.I.A. (Rockefeller: 'Unfathomable' More Info from NYT than DOJ)

[Hissyspit]

Source: New York Times

Debate Erupts on Techniques Used by C.I.A.
By DAVID JOHNSTON and SCOTT SHANE

Published: October 5, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 — The disclosure of secret Justice Department legal opinions on interrogation on Thursday set off a bitter round of debate over the treatment of terrorism suspects in American custody and whether Congress has been adequately informed of legal policies.

Democrats on Capitol Hill demanded to see the classified memorandums, disclosed Thursday by The New York Times, that gave the Central Intelligence Agency expansive approval in 2005 for harsh interrogation techniques.

Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the West Virginia Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote to the acting attorney general, Peter D. Keisler, asking for copies of all opinions on interrogation since 2004. “I find it unfathomable that the committee tasked with oversight of the C.I.A.’s detention and interrogation program would be provided more information by The New York Times than by the Department of Justice,” Mr. Rockefeller wrote.

The ranking Republican on the panel, Senator Christopher S. Bond of Missouri, said Thursday night in a statement that the committee had been briefed on the administration’s “legal justifications” for interrogation. Mr. Bond said he understood that the administration did not want to turn over the opinions themselves because they had confidential legal advice.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/washington/05interrogate.html?hp

[Kagemusha]

1. Rockefeller isn't paid to be that credulous. Don't be surprised!

Do something about it!

[PSPS]

2. "I find it unfathomable"

Geez, I expected better from Rockefeller. But he's as clueless as the rest of them as to what we're dealing with here -- an administration that is, in fact, a criminal enterprise.

I guess the DC cocktail-party circuit is really a bubble unto itself.

[Roland99]

3. Bond...what a waste of carbon and water.