by hilzoy
"The Central Intelligence Agency announced on Thursday that it will no longer use contractors to conduct interrogations, and that it is decommissioning the secret overseas sites where for years it held high-level Al Qaeda prisoners.
In a statement to the agency's work force, the director, Leon E. Panetta, said that the secret detention facilities were no longer in operation, but he suggested that security and maintenance have been continued at the sites at taxpayers' expense.
"I have directed our agency personnel to take charge of the decommissioning process, and have further directed that the contracts for site security be promptly terminated," Mr. Panetta said. "It is estimated that our taking over site security will result in savings of up to $4 million." (…)
In the statement, Mr. Panetta vowed to continue the "global pursuit" of Al Qaeda and its allies. But he said that interrogators will use traditional methods and not physical force, and that the interrogators will be government employees.
"C.I.A. officers, whose knowledge of terrorist organizations is second to none, will continue to conduct debriefings using a dialog style of questioning that is fully consistent with the interrogation approaches authorized and listed in the Army Field Manual," Mr. Panetta wrote.
"C.I.A. officers do not tolerate, and will continue to promptly report, any inappropriate behavior or allegations of abuse. That holds true whether a suspect is in the custody of an American partner or a foreign liaison service," he wrote, ruling out asking other countries' interrogators to question suspects on behalf of the agency using the banned methods."
Now if the administration would only…
patience, grasshopper. like the glacier, the Obama moves slowly, but can move the mountain, in the time.
A positive development, I guess, but mostly meaningless without some accountability.
Thank God, indeed.
I’m still holding out hope that the fact that the memos have not been released, and that he’s still holding onto the state secrets thing, are just more examples of the slow incremental approach he seems to take to most things. I like that approach in general, although it’s a bit frustrating in this case. And I wish I could be sure that’s what’s going on. I’m still optimistic, though.
LauraM: I’m still holding out hope that the fact that the memos have not been released, and that he’s still holding onto the state secrets thing, are just more examples of the slow incremental approach he seems to take to most things.
Maybe the delay in releasing the memos can be interpreted that way, but the abuse of state secrets privilege (asserting it broadly to dismiss whole cases) isn’t slow or incremental; they did it at their first opportunity (in Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan Inc. on Feb. 9), repeatedly since then, and AG Holder says publicly they will take the same approach as Bush in all but one of the 20 cases they’ve reviewed.
Legal filings aren’t policy. Legal filings are the zealous representation of your client. Do you think personal injury lawyers only submit filings that they believe advance the interest of justice, fairness, and truth? No, they submit filings that advance the interest of their clients.
Executive orders, votes in the Senate, legislation submitted to Congress, policy announcements – these are the expression of Obama, and Team Obama’s, policies. Arguing in favor of giving the administration the widest possible latitude in setting policy is just what government lawyers do.
joe, ol’ buddy, how are ya! Still pushing for the Hope and Change(tm), and fighting off opposition to the chosen one?
Buena suerte.