TORTURE REPORT

From the findings and conclusions of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence aka as the Torture Report. I've read only 40 or so of 525 pages, but below are a couple of snippets about actions taken by those in the highest levels of the White House.

A year after being briefed on the program, the House and Senate Conference Committee considering the Fiscal Year 2008 Intelligence Authorization bill voted to limit the CIA to using only interrogation techniques authorized by the Army Field Manual. That legislation was approved by the Senate and House of Representatives in February 2008, and was vetoed by President Bush on March 8, 2008. (p. 13)
....

At the direction of the White House, the secretaries of state and defense - both principals on the National Security Council - were not briefed on program specifics until September 2003. An internal CIA email from Junly 2003 noted that "...the WH (White House) is extremely concerned [Secretary] Powell would blow his stack if he were to be briefed on what's been going on." Deputy Secretary Armitage complained that he and Secretary Powell were "cut out" of the National Seccurity Council coordination process. (pp. 13-14)

As for what I've read of actual torture techniques, the details made me sick, and I know there is much more and worse to come. I seriously doubt I will read the entire report, but I'll read as much as I can stand.  The CIA was a rogue agency, but the rogues in the White House gave them permission.

President Obama issued an Executive Order directing the CIA to use only the interrogation techniques authorized in the Army Field Manual, but the order could be reversed by the next president. There needs to be a law.

Here's the link to the text of the report.

From the Faux News way back machine - George W Bush:

This government does not torture people. We stick to US law and our international obligations.

Did Bush say one word that was true? If he did, I missed it.

SUPPORT FOR GAY MARRIAGE GROWS

The video ad shows a surprising combination of supporters of gay marriage.  Throughout the country, support for same-sex marriage is increasingly seen as a matter of equality.

UPDATE: From ABC on Laura Bush:

The former first lady’s office told the Dallas Morning News that Bush had not given her consent to be part of the ad, and had asked that she be removed from it.

OH THIS IS RICH

Dick Cheney by Gage Skidmore

Former Vice President Dick Cheney took a shot at President Barack Obama late Monday night after it was reported that the president has attended fewer than half of his daily intelligence briefings.

“If President Obama were participating in his intelligence briefings on a regular basis then perhaps he would understand why people are so offended at his efforts to take sole credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden,” Cheney told The Daily Caller in an email through a spokeswoman.

“Those who deserve the credit are the men and women in our military and intelligence communities who worked for many years to track him down. They are the ones who deserve the thanks of a grateful nation.”

Hey Dick.  When did President Obama claim that he took out Osama Bin Laden single-handedly?   Poor Dick and the Neocons.  This really sticks in their craws.  Bush probably doesn't care, because he said to Fred Barnes about Bin Laden, “I truly am not that concerned about him.”   

What good purpose was served by Dick Cheney and George Bush participating in the intelligence briefings on a regular basis if the two did not do a damned thing in response to the warnings of his intelligence and national security staff that a terrorist attack in the US by Osama Bin Laden might be imminent?

Picture by Gage Skidmore from Wikimedia Commons. 

'GUESS WHO LOVES DICK CHENEY'S BOOK'

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) – Publishing circles were abuzz today with the news that the new memoir by former Vice President Dick Cheney features a foreword by an unusual contributor: Satan.

Read it all. Andy reports; you decide.