Panetta takes on Cheney at hearing

[BlueJessamine]

Source: POLITICO

Leon Panetta took on former Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday for warning the nation could be more vulnerable to a terrorist attack because of recent actions by President Barack Obama.

During Panetta’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee to be CIA director, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) said statements made by “a former senior official” that the new administration was “more concerned with reading the rights to Al Qaeda terrorist than protecting the United States” needed to be clarified.

And Panetta jumped right in.

“I was disappointed by those comments, because the implication is that somehow this country is more vulnerable to attack because the president of the United States wants to abide by the law and the Constitution,” Panetta said. “I think we’re a stronger nation when we abide by the law and the Constitution.”

Cheney told Politico in an interview Tuesday that he worried the nation was more vulnerable to attack since Obama had ordered the military prison at Guantanamo Bay closed and an end to coercive interrogatons.

Panetta’s hearing focused largely on his response to policies carried out during the Bush administration. But it’s not over yet. The Intelligence Committee plans to renew its questioning Friday morning.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18476.html

---

And Reuters has this:

President Barack Obama's choice to head the CIA said on Thursday he would support "limited" prosecution of any agents who deliberately violated the law in interrogating terrorism suspects.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKN05387888

[Solly Mack]

1. That's almost word for word what Palin said at the RNC.

"Al Qaida terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America, and he's worried that someone won't read them their rights."


http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/conventions/videos/transcripts/20080903_PALIN_SPEECH.html

[LynnTheDem]

12. I am worried someone won't read them their rights.

MY country stands for RULE OF LAW for ALL.

Period.

Osama bin Laden accused America of being a sham democracy. He was proven right by George W. bUsh and the Republic Party.

President Obama and the rest of Americans are going to prove OBL wrong.

[GreenTea]

2. Listen to Olberrmann's comment tonight about Cheney...It will be on in a few minutes from now.

[bertman]

3. President Obama and his staff would be very wise to listen to Cheney's prediction.

After all, he's the bastard who master-minded the last terrorist attacks on America, so he sure as hell ought to know when the next one is coming.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tempest]

8. She would do well to look up Operation Northwood as well

Where the U.S. government planned to stage a terrorist attack on U.S. soil and blame it on Cuba as an excuse to invade.

[bertman]

14. Yes, thank you for reminding us of that, Tempest. Another of those not-so-pretty

episodes involving a false-flag attack.

[Tempest]

15. Another example

Read up on the neoconservatives during the 1950s and how they rewrote CIA reports to make it look like Russia was a threat.

The CIA said it wasn't true, but the neocons lied their asses off in the media to the point where the Red Scare was created.

They continued their work during the Reagan administration to get Reagan to approve massive increases in military spending (which they were heavily invested in).

[bertman]

16. The list goes on and on. It's their stock in trade.

OOPS. I see that I offended a Mod with my reference to the newby dipshit who cracked on me earlier in this post. Actually I thought I was pretty damn civil in my reply, PLUS I added some book-learnin' to the thread.

[Tempest]

17. They deleted my reply as well

Rent a copy of "The Power of Nightmares". You may have to go to Netflix to find it.

It goes into detail about the neoconservative movement and how they used lies, deceit, manipulation and controlling the media by purchasing it to get their message across.

[bertman]

18. I'll check it out. Thanks, Tempest.

[Jefferson23]

4. Good for you Panetta, I'm glad those remarks by Cheney were not ignored.

I hope Cheney is nervous every time he hears the word prosecute, even if it suggests "limited."

[NikolaC]

5. I Get The Feeling

that he is not nervous about it because I doubt they will be prosecuted. I would LOVE to see that happen, but if nothing was done about it during their reign of terror, how can we believe that they will be held accountable now?

[Jefferson23]

10. To answer your question, we don't know. Yet, I do think Cheney's

rambling about terrorists and his comments about interrogation tactics are a PR plea as he may be feeling nervous as to how the Obama administration will go forward. The will of the people will play a big part in that imo and Cheney is just positioning himself as the guy who wanted nothing more than to keep America safe, blah blah blah. So I agree with you that there is doubt about prosecutions. But for now, as evident in Cheney's defensive and outrageous statements, he is not certain there will be no prosecutions and for that I am grateful. Simply put, I hope Cheney is sweating, even if it is just a little.

[Zhade]

9. LIMITED? You don't fucking put limits on justice.

NT!

[No Elephants]

11. Now that Bush-Cheney have served two terms, the Dems are

really cracking down on them--but in rhetoric only. No prosecutions. No, no, no. Just what the Dems hope will be applause lines. Like tossing treats to performing seals, let's toss a few applause lines to our base.

Was I always this bitter? No. Only a few short months ago, I was continuing to donate way more than I could afford to Obama, the Party and other Democrats. Now, I'm a hair away from going Green.

[yellowcanine]

13. Dickhead should be glad this administration follows the constitution.

Otherwise he could be number 1 candidate for waterboarding.

"What do you know about the Valerie Plame leak, Mr. Cheney?"