The Obama CIA Vendetta - Act III - 7 Former CIA Directors Turn Up the Heat on Obama & Holder

The London Telegraph reports in tomorrow’s edition that Michael Hayden, Porter Goss, George Tenet, John Deutch, James Woolsey, William Webster, and James Schlesinger have joined together to publicly and formally urge President Obama to end the criminal investigation of CIA officers initiated by Attorney General Eric Holder. This represents almost every director, with the exception of current Defense Secretary Robert Gates, since 1987 and crosses the political spectrum. Current Director Leon Panetta is already on record against White House is a measure of the gravity of the issue. They warned that other countries feel they can no longer safely share intelligence or cooperate with the U.S. government on counter terrorist operations. “They simply cannot rely on our promises of secrecy”. In the intelligence world, this is a fatal error.

Admiral Dennis Blair, the Director of National Intelligence, has also gone on record in a memo to his staff outlining the successes of the interrogation program under question. That memo was sent the same day in April as the administration released secret Bush Administration legal memos authorizing the use of harsh interrogation methods. This both undercut and embarrassed Holder, the President himself, and Speaker Pelosi, who has been adamant in denying she had been briefed on these methods.

On August 24, former Vice President Cheney was vindicated by the release of previously secret memos in his statements that these interrogation techniques resulted in actionable intelligence that prevented terrorist attacks. We now know those attacks included a 9/11 type attack on Heathrow Airport and the use of weaponized anthrax. In addition, the interrogations provided invaluable intelligence on Al Quaeda’s organizational and financial networks.

This vendetta began with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and AG Holder all trying their best to damage the previous administration as best they could. The President was then drawn into the arena and took the low path, accusing Cheney of lying and blaming Bush. We now have the spectacle of a brawl between the two primary intelligence agencies at a time of global discord. Only today, it was announced in the Times of London that Special Envoy George Mitchell’s efforts to broker 3 way talks with the Israelis and Palestinians have broken down.

In a world with more than enough problems, a political vendetta is the last thing our country needs.