One day after what otherwise would be an epic scandal (in any other administration) when it was revealed that not only did the CIA indeed spy on the Senate, but had lied when it denied doing so (something for which it subsequently apologized, the spying that is, not the lying) Obama had to field a question about just this topic during one of his daily populist press conferences in which as usual he took credit for anything that is seasonally-adjusted right with the economy (not much) and blamed all that is wrong on the republicans. This is what he said.
“In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, we did some things that were wrong. We did a whole lot of things that were right, but we tortured some folks. We did things that were contrary to our values.”
So… is “droning folks” not contrary to “our” values? As for the question at hand, from Politico:
“I have full confidence in John Brennan,” Obama said of the CIA chief who served as Obama’s top White House counterterrorism adviser during his first term.
The president noted Brennan’s apology and said “some very poor judgment was shown” by the CIA personnel who pried into the Senate files in what CIA officials have described as an attempt to investigate a possible security breach.
While Brennan was dismissive in his public comments about the episode when it was disclosed earlier this year, the president said Brennan had moved to get to the bottom of the incident. “Keep in mind: John Brennan called for that IG report,” Obama said.
During his first campaign for the White House, Obama often blasted the Bush administration for its interrogation tactics, which he called both “torture” and “deplorable.” Soon after taking office, Obama signed an executive order banning many of the controversial techniques.
However, the president has seemed less enthusiastic about exposing the details of the CIA program or holding people accountable for the tactics he has denounced as torture.
In 2009, he briefly entertained and then dismissed Sen. Patrick Leahy’s idea for a bipartisan commission to examine the interrogation practices.
In light of all these new revelations, we encourage readers to immediately cease and decist their cynicism, and “choose hope“, as per the torture-condoning president’s recent diktat to the masses, as otherwise the likelihood of joining the ranks of “folks” tortured and/or droned approaches unity.
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1AIPmAb Tyler Durden