After Defending Bush Admin Abuses, McConnell Appointed To Intel Advisory Board By Obama
After Defending Bush Admin Abuses, McConnell Appointed To Intel Advisory Board By Obama
This morning, President-elect Obama announced his selections for top intelligence posts including Leon Panetta for CIA Director and Dennis Blair for Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Surprisingly, Obama also announced that he would at least partially rely on the guidance of the current DNI, Mike McConnell. McConnell will “continue to offer his counsel through my Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board,” Obama said.
In some instances, McConnell has shown himself to be an independent actor, such as in the case of the 2007 NIE that found that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program. In that case, McConnell resisted pressure from the White House to change the NIE’s conclusions. After the NIE’s release, McConnell actively pushed back against right-wing attacks on the intelligence community’s findings.
In other cases, however, McConnell has also been a key defender of some of the Bush administration’s most egregious violations of civil and human rights. Last night on Charlie Rose, for example, McConnell defended the Bush administration’s expanded use of extraordinary-rendition on enemy combatants. He claimed such renditions never resulted in torture:
ROSE: Let me just make one point. Some people believe that renditions are a way for Americans to send people that they want to interrogate to another place, where they will do interrogations that the Americans would not do themselves. … Including torture.
MCCONNELL: [T]hat is not consistent with our law, or our intent or our behavior. … And since 2001, until now, there have been fewer than 100 — fewer than 100 renditions. … Now, you used the word torture. I would not use that word. … I would use the word interrogation.
Watch it:
In fact, as Jane Mayer documented, McConnell cannot credibly argue that rendered terrorism suspects were not tortured. Mayer wrote for the New Yorker, “The most common destinations for rendered suspects are Egypt, Morocco, Syria, and Jordan, all of which have been cited for human-rights violations by the State Department, and are known to torture suspects.”
Human Rights Watch found that at lesat 14 individuals have been rendered to Jordan and placed in the custody the Jordanian intelligence service. The Jordanian government beat the detainees severely and threatened detainees with electrocution, dogs, and even rape. Rendered detainees are rarely charged with crimes and on several occasions have been cases of mistaken identity.
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As we’ve all pointed out here many many times, just about everybody in the intelligence community with any resume experience at all is complicit in torture. There are simply no viable alternatives to hiring at least a few with blood on their hands – not unless you just want all of our intelligence capabilities to go away.
But come 1/20/09, this guy and all his compadres need to shut up about defending such behavior. That has got to stop. Just “no comment” all questions about torture, and refer them to somebody like Panetta.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:40 pm.
Turning the underwear inside out is NOT change!
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January 9th, 2009 at 4:40 pmI’m supposing that Obama is the kind of guy who likes to credit someone’s good judgment even if that good judgment is few and far in between.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:43 pmWe have sunk so low…..Bush, I hate your guts.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:45 pmTo be honest, renditions started under Clinton
January 9th, 2009 at 4:47 pmOpposing points of view are good, even when they are wrong.
The guy is not going to actually run anything. He’s going to offer advice, which is easy to reject. On some matters, he actually knows what he is talking about and he’s also able to offer a “this is how things were done” perspective.
This will help avoid an echo-chamber, and that’s a good thing.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:48 pmAnother worthless lying neocon war criminal now onboard the Obama war machine… Full steam ahead with US/NATO genocide in Afghanistan… Genocide you can believe in.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:51 pmOur new President’s fondness for neocons is regrettable. His desire to let them horn in on the act is distinctly at odds with the views of the electorate, and not at all a hopeful sign for his administration.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:51 pmRenditions have been going on since time began. It was a convenient way to have other folks do your dirty work, with a hint of deniability. I looked and found no facts supporting the assertion that Clinton did any renditions to countries who we believed would be tortured. The one rendition Clinton did was based on getting the suspect back to the country that was damaged by that suspects own bomb – so he could be tried (extradition). That is different than Bush’s reasons for renditions.
Bush does it because he is a fool who thinks his secrets will never be found out. Bush is not that clever….
January 9th, 2009 at 4:52 pmProsecute him, don’t hire him…. <*SHEESH*>
It’s not like the only competent people in intelligence and national security are the RW tools…. For instance, the anti-war crew knew more about Iraq than the entire Dubya maladministration.
Cheers,
January 9th, 2009 at 5:08 pmQ U E S T I O N:
If the USA has sent 100 or so people to other countries to be “INTORTURGATED” so as to shield the CIA from criminal behavior, how can McCONnell be 100% certain that these other countries don’t use tactics that otherwise would be illegal for the CIA to use?
I mean, what’s the purpose of “RENDITION” for “INTORTURGATION” when one attempts to make the claim that person’s rendered for said process weren’t TORTURED?
If the same processes were conducted under the control of the USA and prisoners weren’t rendered, would those processes have crossed into illegal acts? If not, then why have a third party do it for you? And how can you be so sure that third party didn’t cross legal lines? Was McCONnell there for every rendering and processing…?
January 9th, 2009 at 5:09 pmSkeeter1,
McCONnell isn’t just an opposing point of view…
… He’s a patent liar and criminal.
What do you get when you continually hire criminals?
January 9th, 2009 at 5:14 pm.
Torture Prosecutor Tops 70,000 Questions for Obama on Change.Gov
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/state_of_change/395205/torture_prosecutor_tops_70_000_questions_for_obama_on_change_gov
… Keep ‘em coming people!
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January 9th, 2009 at 5:21 pmSo, he has a seat at the table. That does not mean that Obama is going to change his views in any way. All he is doing is making sure that there is someone from every point of view at his tables. I think it’s a smart move on his part. It will stop the Republicans from saying that they are being ignored the way they ignored Democrats for 8 years.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:25 pmsmart move, get the truth out of him and put him on trial with the rest.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:28 pmMax-1 Says:
Skeeter1,
McCONnell isn’t just an opposing point of view…
… He’s a patent liar and criminal.
What do you get when you continually hire criminals?
Putting someone on a Board is not hiring them. Obama said that he was going to be President of the whole country not just Blue States or Red States. I see nothing wrong with his listening to all points of view, do you? Do you lack that much confidence in him that you think he will be influenced to make decisions based on what McConnell thinks?
January 9th, 2009 at 5:28 pmPerry logan Says:
Our new President’s fondness for neocons is regrettable. His desire to let them horn in on the act is distinctly at odds with the views of the electorate, and not at all a hopeful sign for his administration.
Would you rather Obama completely shut them out the way they shut out Democrats for 8 years? And if so, what do you think that will do to Obama’s ability to get anything done?
January 9th, 2009 at 5:29 pmSkeeter1 Says:
Opposing points of view are good, even when they are wrong.
Thank you. It’s nice to know that there is one sane person on this blog today. Everyone else seems to be in implosion mode.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:31 pmBilbo,
January 9th, 2009 at 5:36 pmShort answer…
… Yes!
Thank you Guido. I don’t think this can be stressed enough:
Waterboarding is a dramatic visual, but the other methods are brutal, too.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:39 pmrepublicans hate facts Says:
Bilbo is a zealot, he’ll rationalize any decision Obama makes no matter how badly. If Obama had said no NeoCons today, Bilbo would have come out saying how great that change was. Grow a spine Bilbo and learn to think for yourself, and stop being such a whiny little pussy.
RHF went off the rails after Hillary lost and hasn’t gotten back on yet.
I will criticize Obama the day he makes policy that I think needs criticism. Until that time, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Too bad there aren’t more people on this blog who are willing to do that. You are all armchair quarterbacks gazing into your Walmart crystal balls coming away just KNOWING what Obama is going to do.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:50 pmMax-1 Says:
Bilbo,
Short answer…
… Yes!
Well, I too would love to see Obama and the Democrats treat the Republicans exactly the way they treated Democrats for 8 long years. But, that isn’t going to get us anywhere. I would rather this country get fixed than to wreak vengeance upon the Republicans. I do want Obama to go after the Bush Crime Family and I think that eventually he will. But, again, his first priority has to be fixing the financial crisis and the other problems that has this country on the brink of a complete and total meltdown.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:53 pmBilbo,
This isn’t about Republicans vs. Democrats and retaliation…
… It’s about principles.
(following your logic) Then I suppose Blago should also sit on an Obama adversary board for special appointments, YES?
Fixing the Country may involve jail for Democrats that conspired to keep TORTURE hush, hush. But neither will come to pass as long as there are other distractions to real change and true accountability, distractions like the economy.
Why can’t Obama walk and chew gum, then? What, doing many things is inconceivable?
January 9th, 2009 at 6:15 pmBilbo,
When you said, “Until that time, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt,” let me ask you, how did that mind set work for Republicans and Bush?
Now, I’m not calling you a Republican or a Loyalist, however your exhibiting the same mind set and arguments that were proposed by the Loyalist Republicans many years ago, shortly after 9/11… ‘benefit of the doubt’ !
January 9th, 2009 at 6:22 pmKEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE BUT YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER. The young Obama has learned well. We will see some wing nuts who will be indicted in the future for their crimes. Look in order to uncover the scams you have to know from the people that did it. Many will find out the Obama/Biden Administration will make way for the International Crime team to have enough to prosecut and don’t forget the Gitmo prisoners that will sent to other countries. Yes what a sweet thing that will be when these tortured prisoner are finally brought to trial and all the Bush/Cheney secrets come out. At lease 7 prisoners held for 7 years are were tortured so much their insane. The horror that has been done over the 8 years of Bush/Cheney will make Saddam look like a Saint.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:23 pmDid Frances Townsend and Gen. Peter Pace keep their seats on the Presidential Intelligence Advisory Board?
TP reported on both appointments last year.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:29 pmI think it’s dispicable that Obama is relying on these people who supported renditions of innocent people.Anyone who allowed & supported renditions is not competent.Why Obama wants these people in is govt is very disturbing.I say kudos to Richard Clarke for refusing the CIA top spot,Clarke I bet saw that nothing meaningful would come down the pike & better not sully his rep as CIA chief.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:24 pmObama needs to screw his head on straight. He needs to be prosecuting these neocons, not hiring them. Obama is making some disturbing choices.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:41 pmHe truly is a right wing “destroyer of worlds”. He is a product of gross political perversion of the past 8 years which should either be forgotten or should be punished. This guy is a product of a false premise: that there were holes in our intelligence system. That was used to justify what followed. He represents bad government, expensive, war-like government, unlike anything seen since the end of WWII. He and his creations should be banished forever. I watched his “Charlie Rose” interview. This guy is truly evil. A political pig.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:43 pmThis is pretty cool. McConnell doesn’t get to sit on the outside barking, complaining, and spinning. He has to put his hours in on the advisory board where they are going to play all the tapes of torture and read all the transcripts in front of him and maybe even make him smell all the blood-soaked shirts and all the piss and vomit-stained orange jumpsuits. No way to avoid the truth, no way to hide it or deny it.
Obama accomplishes nothing by cutting the Republican thugocracy out of the decision-making process. Yes, they should all be jailed or run out of town just for the constant kvetching and lies, but that isn’t going to happen. They control too many safe seats and have too much pull with the Beltway press. Obama cannot take them down directly as long as they have access to every TV network and radio station to push their propaganda and smears and play the victim. If he keeps them inside where they have to share responsibility for what is done and what they say, he can pin them down, just like Bush pinned Rockefeller, Harman, and the rest of the Democratic enablers.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:48 pmMax-1 Says:
Bilbo,
When you said, “Until that time, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt,” let me ask you, how did that mind set work for Republicans and Bush?
Now, I’m not calling you a Republican or a Loyalist, however your exhibiting the same mind set and arguments that were proposed by the Loyalist Republicans many years ago, shortly after 9/11… ‘benefit of the doubt’ !
I didn’t start criticizing Bush until he was the president and started making policy. When he made policy I disagreed with or did something I thought was stupid, I criticized him.
Obama isn’t even president yet and yet many of the people here have already condemned him for things he hasn’t even done. That says a lot about what kind of a person you are.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:55 pmDutchHenry Says:
I think it’s dispicable that Obama is relying on these people who supported renditions of innocent people.
Exactly how is Obama “relying” on these people? All he has done is give them a seat at the table where they can express their views. He told us from the start that he would be open to hearing all points of view. And now you want him to only listen to the progressive echo chamber. Doesn’t that make him like Bush?
January 9th, 2009 at 7:59 pmMcConnell got another job in the new administration. Obama will need to watch his back with all former Republicans. This particular one more than most.
January 9th, 2009 at 8:14 pmLTdan Says:
I love it when morons like you give us a free clown show.
January 9th, 2009 at 8:41 pmIn the case of where one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, one person’s torture regimen is another person’s enhanced interrogation practices…or as certain Republicans keep saying, we’ll define what is or is not torture, not the law, but especially not the “quaint” Geneva Conventions or any other laws outlawing torture.
Translation: Republicans will define what reality (and the law) is…and everyone else must accept their definition for reality (and the law)…or else.
January 9th, 2009 at 9:49 pmcurious Says:
McConnell got another job in the new administration. Obama will need to watch his back with all former Republicans. This particular one more than most.
McConnell was offered a seat on a board that will advise Obama. How is that a “job”?
January 9th, 2009 at 10:03 pmLTdan Says:
I love it when the libs eat their own
All that’s going on here is arguing about whether your kind should be hanged immediately or locked in a cold, dark cell for the remainder of your miserable existence. I wouldn’t get too excited about it either way.
I say let the worm advise. Just don’t forget it’s a worm.
January 10th, 2009 at 12:15 amObama wouldn’t do such a hideous thing; you had better check your facts.
January 10th, 2009 at 9:04 amStay classy America! The saddest thing is that if the Nurenburg trials were held today, half the Nazis would be acquitted for simply following orders.
A shining city on a hill, except the hill’s been moved into the gutter.
January 10th, 2009 at 11:57 amAnd still you exemplify the shining qualities of those you support.
January 10th, 2009 at 12:16 pmObama Keeping On Bushie McConnell As Adviser
Well, when that embarrassing quote from an anonymous “high Administration official familiar with the intelligence community” that undermines his attempts to close Gitmo and halt rendition hits the wire services later this spring, Obama won’t have to look far for the source.
January 10th, 2009 at 12:25 pmOnce again Obama shows great judgement. McConnell is a good man who is also good at his job, rarely do the two meet. As far as rendition, None of us knows if these other countries torture the people they receive but I think we all KNOW they do. Regardless, I prefer to let people who are good at it do it. Americans don’t appear to have the stomach for it. I can hear the self righteous howls now. Try reading a little Machiavelli, Von Clausewitz or Sun Tzu before telling me how stupid and evil I am. The greatest political/military minds in history believe it has it’s place. You aren’t one of the greatest military minds in history so you are not someone to consider on the subject.
January 10th, 2009 at 3:28 pmOh, one more thing, welcome to my world Bilbo. Try to reason with some of these goofballs and you are a lickspittle retard with oatmeal on your chin and a serious need for valium or a lobotomy. Keep up the good fight. Obama is doing a masterful job of surrounding himself with good people. I’m not crazy about Panetta at CIA but it could have been worse. He could have picked Bubba.
January 10th, 2009 at 3:36 pmObama will appoint neocon Dennis Ross as his Special Adviser for the Middle East and Iran.
Ross is a member of the Project for the New American Century, the neo-conservative group that shaped Bush’s disastrous, heavy handed foreign policy the last eight years.
Ross co-founded the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a group sponsored by AIPAC, the American-Israel lobbying group. The Institute’s advisory board is heavily populated with NeoCons.
January 10th, 2009 at 4:42 pmMCCONNELL: Now, you used the word torture. I would not use that word. … I would use the word interrogation.
If what they do is torture people, then the word to use is “torture.” If they ask questions without torturing anyone, then the word would be “interrogation.” This whole “I would use the word…” crap is meaningless, because there is a fact of the matter. It’s not up to personal choice of terminology.
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drew3rd Says:
Once again Obama shows great judgement. McConnell is a good man who is also good at his job, rarely do the two meet. As far as rendition, None of us knows if these other countries torture the people they receive but I think we all KNOW they do. Regardless, I prefer to let people who are good at it do it.
I think your definition of a good person and mine seem to differ. Good people don’t intentionally do evil things; they certainly don’t attempt to justify the evil that they or others have done. That’s what evil people do.
Now maybe you, McConnell and various other wingnuts consider each other to be “good” people. For all I know, everybody burning in hell considers their fellow damned to be “good” people. But that doesn’t make it so. Y’all are still evil, because you intentionally commit evil acts, and you attempt to justify the evil that you and others have done.
January 11th, 2009 at 1:14 amNo prosecution, no peace.
If the Obama Administration does not launch serious investigations of the Bush Administration, that result in indictments over the torture and rendition issues, it will and should incur the wrath of every patriotic American. Certainly me — and I supported Obama for the past two years.
January 12th, 2009 at 12:13 pmWhat’s this big deal about how good it is to ‘listen’ to other points of view–? Those other ‘points of view’ have been sending this country -during the last 8 years- down into the crappy mess we are in. We need to keep ‘listening’ to them?
Nope, we need to cut them out, excise them and put them in the contaminated trash container!
January 12th, 2009 at 1:38 pm