[Ppnews] Obama, Blair, Panetta and the Torture Memos

[Political Prisoner News]

http://www.counterpunch.org/soldz04212009.html

April 21, 2009


Obama, Blair, Panetta and the Torture Memos

Praising Moral Cowards, Ignoring Real Heroes

By STEPHEN SOLDZ

It turned out to be harder than I expected to 
find the complete texts of the statements made by 
President Obama, Director of National 
Intelligence Dennis Blair, and CIA Director Leon 
Panetta on Thursday as the Office of Legal 
Council torture memos were being released. Thanks 
to 
<http://washingtonindependent.com/39261/obama-blair-panetta-vow-to-defend-cia-officers>Spencer 
Ackerman , I have located them and post them here.

Reading these statements in their entirety, they 
are as chilling as the memos themselves. While 
the memos describe the torture program in 
meticulous, bureaucratic detail -- including the 
temperature of water to be used to chill people, 
and the length and number of waterboarding 
episodes permitted per day -- the statements from 
our President and two of his top officials heap 
praise upon those who were all to willing to 
sacrifice their morals and decency in pursuit of this horrific program.

To proclaim the torturers as heroes and to thank 
them for committing horrors is to spit in the 
face of those who suffered from this program of 
state-sponsored torture, not just from the CIA, 
but the thousands who experienced this programs 
derivative programs at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, 
Bagram, and elsewhere in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
These statements also poke a finger in the eyes 
of all those human rights advocates and simply 
decent people who for years fought against this 
and related programs of state-sponsored abuse.

And, perhaps most disturbingly, to absolve and 
convey hero status to those who shelved their 
consciences is an insult to the true heroes of 
this sordid chapter in our history, the many men 
and women in our military and our government who 
refused to go along and protested and fought 
against these acts of state-sponsored horror. For 
the interrogators who gave up careers spanning 
decades out of shame over what their profession 
was being turned into, the  Jags who fought the 
development of this policy and risked scorn in 
defending the "worst of the worst," the 
prosecutors who denounced the concealing of abuse 
in the highly politicized trials at Guantanamo, 
again at the cost of careers, and those officials 
like Albert Mora who took seriously their 
obligation to defend the constitution are real 
heroes. These are the individuals who deserve the 
praise of our leaders and our people.

We can continue to debate what type of 
accountability there should be for the guards, 
interrogators, doctors and psychologists who 
implemented these policies. But they are not 
heroes. They are not people to be thanked. They 
are not people who did their best in the 
difficult circumstances after 911. They are at 
best sad human beings who went along with 
authority when their nation needed them to 
refuse, individuals without a moral compass, 
examples to be held up as an example of what our 
children of what they must do their best not to 
become. They are no better, perhaps even worse, 
than the rightly scorned MPs of Abu Ghraib.

Despite the political courage it took to release 
these documents, the leaders who issued these 
statements praising the CIA agents of torture are 
ultimately moral cowards, afraid to tell the 
public what it needs to hear. They represent, not 
the change we need, but the stability that makes 
future state-sanctioned abuses all the more likely.

Obama

To the Men and Women of CIA:

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for 
the work you are doing for the country. Your work 
has informed every President dating back to 
President Truman and it protects our people. I 
have come to rely on your service and I believe 
strongly that it is vital to the security of our 
country. Given the threats, challenges, and 
opportunities facing America, the CIA remains as 
critical today as it has ever been to our 
Nation’s security. While necessity requires that 
the country may not know all of your names or the 
work that you do, all of us enjoy the freedom that you have helped secure.

I also wanted to share with you a decision that I 
made last night. Later today, the Department of 
Justice will release certain memos issued by the 
Office of Legal Counsel between 2002 and 2005. I 
did not make this decision lightly. As you may 
know, the release is part of an ongoing court 
case. I have fought for the principle that the 
United States must carry out covert activities 
and hold information that is classified for the 
purposes of national security and will do so 
again in the future. But the release of these 
memos is required by our commitment to the rule of law.

Much of the information contained in the memos 
has been in the public domain, and the previous 
Administration has acknowledged portions of the 
program – and some of the practices – associated 
with them. My judgment on this is a matter of 
record. I have prohibited the use of these 
interrogation techniques, and I reject the false 
choice between our security and our ideals.

In releasing these memos, the men and women of 
the CIA have assurances from both myself, and 
from Attorney General Holder, that we will 
protect all who acted reasonably and relied upon 
legal advice from the Department of Justice that 
their actions were lawful. The Attorney General 
has assured me that these individuals will not be 
prosecuted and that the Government will stand by them.

The men and women of our intelligence community 
serve courageously on the front lines of a 
dangerous world. Their accomplishments are unsung 
and their names unknown, but because of their 
sacrifices, every single American is safer. They 
need to be fully confident that as they defend 
the Nation, I will defend them. We will protect 
their identities as vigilantly as they protect our security.

This is a time for reflection, not retribution. 
We have been through a dark and painful chapter 
in our history. But at a time of great challenges 
and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained 
by spending our time and energy laying blame for 
the past. The national greatness that you so 
courageously and capably uphold is embedded in 
America’s ability to right its course in concert 
with our core values, and to move forward with confidence.

It is a core American value that we are a Nation 
of laws, and the CIA protects and upholds that 
principle under extraordinarily difficult 
circumstances every day. My Administration will 
always act in accordance with the law, and with 
an unshakeable commitment to our ideals. That is 
why we have released these memos, and that is why 
we have taken steps to ensure that the actions 
described within them never take place again.

Thank you for your service, and God bless the work that you do.

Barack Obama

Blair

The Department of Justice released today four 
previous Office of Legal Counsel opinions which 
concluded certain harsh interrogation techniques 
used by CIA officers on suspected al Qa’ida 
terrorists were legal. The opinions spell out in 
graphic detail techniques used in questioning 
high value detainees suspected of involvement in, 
and plans for, terrorist activity against the United States and its allies.

As the leader of the Intelligence Community, I am 
trying to put these issues into perspective. We 
cannot undo the events of the past; we must 
understand them and use this understanding as we move into the future.

It is important to remember the context of these 
past events. All of us remember the horror of 
9/11. For months afterwards we did not have a 
clear understanding of the enemy we were dealing 
with, and our every effort was focused on 
preventing further attacks that would kill more 
Americans. It was during these months that the 
CIA was struggling to obtain critical information 
from captured al Qa’ida leaders, and requested 
permission to use harsher interrogation methods. 
The OLC memos make clear that senior legal 
officials judged the harsher methods to be legal.

Those methods, read on a bright, sunny, safe day 
in April 2009, appear graphic and disturbing. As 
the President has made clear, and as both CIA 
Director Panetta and I have stated, we will not 
use those techniques in the future. But we will 
absolutely defend those who relied on these memos and those guidelines.

As a young Navy officer during the Vietnam years, 
I experienced public scorn for those of us who 
served in the Armed Forces during an unpopular 
war. Challenging and debating the wisdom and 
policies linked to wars and warfighting is 
important and legitimate; however disrespect for 
those who serve honorably within legal guidelines 
is not. I remember well the pain of those of us 
who served our country even when the policies we 
were carrying out were unpopular or could be second-guessed.

We in the Intelligence Community should not be 
subjected to similar pain. Let the debate focus 
on the law and our national security. Let us be 
thankful that we have public servants who seek to 
do the difficult work of protecting our country 
under the explicit assurance that their actions are both necessary and legal.

There will almost certainly be more public 
attention about the actions of intelligence 
agencies in the past. What we must do is make it 
absolutely clear to the American people that our 
ethos is to act legally, in as transparent a 
manner as we can, and in a way that they would be 
proud of if we could tell them the full story.

Panetta

This afternoon, the Department of Justice is 
releasing a series of opinions that its Office of 
Legal Counsel provided CIA between 2002 and 2005. 
They guided CIA’s detention and interrogation 
program, which ended this past January. Over the 
life of that initiative, CIA repeatedly sought 
and repeatedly received written assurances from 
the Department of Justice that its practices were 
fully consistent with the laws and legal 
obligations of the United States. Those 
operations were also approved by the President 
and the National Security Council principals, and 
were briefed to the Congressional leadership.

As this information is revealed, it is important 
to understand the context in which these 
operations occurred. In the wake of September 
11th, the President turned to CIA­as Presidents 
have done so often in our history­and entrusted 
our officers with the most critical of tasks: to 
disrupt the terrorist network that struck our 
country and prevent further attacks. CIA responded, as duty requires.

Although this Administration has now put into 
place new policies that CIA is implementing, the 
fact remains that CIA’s detention and 
interrogation effort was authorized and approved 
by our government. For that reason, as I have 
continued to make clear, I will strongly oppose 
any effort to investigate or punish those who 
followed the guidance of the Department of Justice.

The President and the Attorney General have also 
made clear that there will be no investigation or 
prosecution of CIA personnel who operated within 
the legal system. In addition, the Department 
will provide legal representation to CIA 
personnel subject to investigations relating to these operations.

This is not the end of the road on these issues. 
More requests will come­from the public, from 
Congress, and the Courts­and more information is 
sure to be released. We cannot control the debate 
about the past. But we can and must remain 
focused on our mission today and in the future. 
The President and the rest of our citizens are 
counting on all of us to help disrupt, destroy, 
and dismantle al Qa’ida­and to learn the plans of 
our other adversaries. We have an obligation to 
this nation and to each other to do all we can to protect America.

This is an exceptional organization of talented 
men and women, dedicated to our national 
security. It is an extraordinarily capable 
organization that quietly defends our country 
while following its laws and upholding its 
values. For that reason, I am proud to stand 
beside you as your Director. And for that reason, 
this President­and future Presidents­will 
continue to ask us to undertake the hard missions 
that only we can. This is an opportunity for CIA 
to begin a new and great chapter in our history of service to the nation.

You need to be fully confident that as you defend 
the nation, I will defend you.

Leon E. Panetta

<mailto:ssoldz at bgsp.edu>Stephen Soldz is a 
psychoanalyst, psychologist, public health 
researcher, and faculty member at the 
<http://www.bgsp.edu/>Boston Graduate School of 
Psychoanalysis. He maintains the 
<http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/ORR.htm>Psychoanalysts 
for Peace and Justice web site and the 
<http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/>Psyche, 
Science, and Society blog. He is a founder of the 
Coalition for an Ethical Psychology, one of the 
organizations leading the struggle to change 
American Psychological Association policy on 
participation in abusive interrogations. He is 
also a Steering Committee member of 
<http://psysr.org/>Psychologists for Social Responsibility [PsySR].




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