CIA officials tell the Washington Post that the administration is making us less safe:
Forget the ticking time-bomb scenario, the Obama administration’s new rules wouldn’t even allow the CIA to grab Osama bin Laden by the shirt collar if they caught him. By this standard Bobby Knight would be a war criminal. The president may be “absolutely convinced” that he was right to end the use of harsh interrogation techniques, but those on the left who insist that coercion is ineffective and counterproductive might be confused by the CIA’s frustration. Why would the CIA even want to use techniques that, according to so many on the left, produce only false confessions at best? Just as alarming is the effect this witch-hunt is having on the already risk-averse culture inside the CIA. According to the Post, “the agency’s defensiveness in part reflects a conviction that it is being forced to take the blame for actions approved by elected officials that have since fallen into disfavor.” If Obama one day is confronted by a situation that requires more than a hard look from a Justice Department lawyer, will a CIA agent follow a lawful order to aggressively interrogate an al Qaeda prisoner? And for those still clinging to the hope that Nancy Pelosi and the administration are outmaneuvering their critics — that “it’s all strategic,” as Michael Steele would say — perhaps the timing of this story will prompt a rethink. If not, there should be plenty more leaks from the CIA over the next few weeks to help bring them around.
