Cia To Pelosi: You're Lying

Nancy Pelosi claims the CIA lied to her. The truth is: Nancy Pelosi was derelict in her duty.

FrumForum.com has viewed detailed documents showing Congressional briefings that completely support the CIA’s position that members of Congress knew about and were briefed continuously on the enhanced interrogation methods. Pelosi, however, attended one briefing session out of approximately forty over a seven year period. Perhaps if she attended more than one session she might have had a better grasp of the situation.

FrumForum.com has spoken to former high CIA officials. All emphatically stated that the Congressional leadership was informed about the interrogations. So why is Pelosi denying this truth now? California Republican Congressman Bilbray expressed the view shared by our off-the-record sources “Selective amnesia strikes really quick on this thing. After 9/11 and now that these attacks have been avoided, they can redefine what they knew and did not know. Many politicians know more than they are willing to admit and are trying to have a witch hunt against the CIA officials.”

As a former CIA official noted, “She should be ashamed of herself. She was caught in a lie and now she is blaming someone else. One of the crosses that the CIA bears is that people can accuse it of outrageous conduct and a large number of folks believe them.”

There are outspoken critics of the CIA in Congress, including Speaker of the House Pelosi (D-CA), Senator Rockefeller (D-WV), and Senator Leahy (D-VT) who wants to establish a “Truth Commission”. The Truth Commission might be a good idea if Pelosi is the first to go under oath and testify to what she knows about the interrogation techniques.

CIA critics demand proof of some spectacular life-saving rescue to legitimate the enhanced interrogation techniques. Intelligence does not work that way. One former CIA official pointed out that much of the actionable intelligence obtained from enhanced interrogation or by other methods is “not headline making stuff. It is considered successful if the terrorists are disrupted early in their activities.” Another noted that, “it is an intelligence failure if we let it get that close to taking place.”

Nor can the CIA fully defend itself. Much of the most valuable intelligence gained remains classified. As a former CIA official noted, “I think the information gained during the course of interrogating Al Qaeda prisoners should remain classified because much of that information is still actionable and the CIA still needs to use it in their counter terrorism operations.”

So what is the end result? FrumForum.com was told that those at the CIA feel their reputation is at stake. They feel that they are in a no win situation. A former CIA official told FrumForum.com with sadness and frustration in his voice that “it has got to be rough for people inside the agency right now. This uncertainty of not knowing what is going to happen has got to be difficult in dealing with on a daily basis… People there (the CIA) are generally worried because the President has come out on both sides of the issue.”

The CIA officials interviewed point out that former Attorney General Mukasey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mullen and the current Director of National Intelligence Blair all saw the intelligence reports and support the CIA’s position that the enhanced techniques thwarted many possible attacks. All the recent CIA directors, including Panetta, echoed that sentiment when they asked Obama not to release the memos. One former CIA official summed up their feelings by stating that, “America would be better off if the focus and energy of our leaders were spent on pursuing the terrorists rather than releasing memos giving a one-sided point of view that questions the integrity of the intelligence community.”