Top CIA Official: Obama Changed Virtually None of Bush’s Controversial Programs

[villager]

Top CIA Official: Obama Changed Virtually None of Bush’s Controversial Programs

As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama pledged “a top to bottom review of the threats we face and our abilities to confront them.” He promised a sweeping overhaul of the Bush administration’s war on terror, which he criticized for compromising American values.

But FRONTLINE has learned from a former high-ranking CIA official that even before he took office, Obama’s team “signaled” they had no intention of rolling back secret programs begun under the Bush administration. In his first televised interview, for next Tuesday’s Top Secret America John Rizzo, a 34-year agency veteran described as “the most influential lawyer in CIA history,” tells FRONTLINE:

I was part of the transition briefings of the incoming Obama team, and they signaled fairly early on that the incoming president believed in a vigorous, aggressive, continuing counterterrorism effort. Although they never said it exactly, it was clear that the interrogation program was going away. We all knew that.

<snip>

With a notable exception of the enhanced interrogation program, the incoming Obama administration changed virtually nothing with respect to existing CIA programs and operations. Things continued. Authorities were continued that were originally granted by President Bush beginning shortly after 9/11. Those were all picked up, reviewed and endorsed by the Obama administration.

<snip>

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/iraq-war-on-terror/topsecretamerica/top-cia-official-obama-changed-virtually-none-of-bushs-controversial-programs/

[Robb]

1. Hey Rizzo, where are the interrogation videos you "lost?"

[RC]

2. I can't but help thinking that

someone or someones got to Obama. His campaign rhetoric is nothing like his president'n

[naaman fletcher]

3. Either that,

or he is just an opportunist and always has been. I prefer to think it is what you suggest, but I am not ruling out what I suggest.

[blkmusclmachine]

4. It could be simpler than that:

It could be that Mr. Obama is a bald-faced LIAR.