Pelosi: Torture protest improper in '03

Source: Politico

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi learned in early 2003 that the Bush administration was waterboarding terror detainees but didn’t protest directly out of respect for “appropriate” legislative channels, a person familiar with the situation said Monday.

The Pelosi camp’s version of events is intended to answer two key questions posed by her critics: When, precisely, did she first learn about waterboarding? And why didn’t she do more to stop it?

Pelosi has disputed a CIA document, released last week, that shows she was briefed in September 2002 on the “particular” interrogation techniques the United States had used on Al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah. Pelosi has said she was told then only that the Bush administration was considering using certain techniques in the future — and that it had the legal authority to do so.

But there’s no dispute that on Feb. 4, 2003 — five months after Pelosi’s September meeting — CIA officials briefed Pelosi aide Michael Sheehy and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), then the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, on the specific techniques that had been used on Zubaydah — including waterboarding.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22401.html

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:popcorn:

Has anyone on DU been happy with her performance as Speaker?

I'm just happy to see the beltway types caught flat-footed over this issue.

Seriously. If war-enablers and corporate-welfare-enablers think I owe them support because they have tacked a "D" after their names, they are mistaken.

As long as we got a better alternative, which seems like a low bar to get over for a lot of them.

we can do much better in the not to distant future.... Something tells me though that I shouldn't hold my breath...

I just read that republican lawmakers rated her as the most difficult to work with, most partisan Democrat given a number of choices of dems like Obama, Reid, committee chairs, etc.

That's why I'm behind her in general.

In this particular case, I ask myself, what did they do with Harman's protest letter? Did it stop the waterboarding? Did Rockefeller's protest letter stop the warrantless wiretapping? No to both.

Those letters are important to show the programs were questionable, and Pelosi should have protested as well, but as far as whether it makes her equally responsible for the program, as the republicans are saying, no way.

everybody seemed to be after all the terrorists' heads and wanted to torture. It may have seen to be weak to protest torture at the time?

many would have been okay with unleashing nukes. Just because I might have been one to cheer it on doesn't mean the 'grown ups' in charge shouldn't have acted with more restraint.

called for investigations and for Rumsfeld to lose his job THREE TIMES in 2003 and 2004. Remember all those high profile Democrats who stood with Kerry then and showed up on the news programs in support of his stand against Bush and Rumsfeld's extrajudicial activities? No? Maybe because there WEREN'T ANY.

I have to retract my faith in her.

What can I say? If she would do that, she is a disgrace.

And I trust you. Your posts are ones that I always check, and respect, with reverence.

Sad.

I'm not prepared to give up on Ms Pelosi yet. OTOH, I see nothing wrong with making her uncomfortable. I have long since given up on Harman of course. Just saying don't believe it because I posted it, I sometimes post crap.
:hi:

Oh yeah, they were too busy rubberstamping everything Bush-Cheney was doing to consider the legality of the issue. Wasn't the rules for these briefings that they were top secret and nothing could be divulged without risking loss of clearances? The lawlessness of the Bush administration was peaking at this time and they still had public opinion with them. There wasn't much any Democrat could do to stop these pricks. Not trying to cheerlead for Pelosi here, but she was pretty much powerless along with the rest of the Democrats at this time.

Now, if I were Pelosi, I'd go all ballistic on the Republican Party and start investigating everything. Time for her to make them play defense for a change.

That might actually do some good.

.
.
.

I mean

Torture IS the best way to get the truth -

right??

:freak:

I think we should start by making the US Congress listen to the BeeGees singing "staying alive" continuously for 6 weeks.

Whatever. If her statements keep this issue in the news, I guess that's what she's good for.

Which I think is good, because I want it stopped, permanently. This country was founded precisely to get away from that sort of arbitrary government abuse of power.

She should just quit talking about it--it'll blow over like everything else.

Along with Fienstienliberman, Baccus, and all the rest of the corporate whores.

:mad: