Torture With Impunity. Tell the Truth and Go to Jail.

Former CIA officer John Kiriakou was one of the first government officials to publicly acknowledge the use of waterboarding during interrogations and to call it what it was – torture. The Obama administration, in its unprecedented war on whistleblowers is trying to charge Kiriakou under the Espionage Act (just one of six such cases, more than any of Obama’s predecessors combined).

Dan Froomkin at the Huffington Post writes a lengthy article about the irony of prosecuting him for telling the truth, while the torturers are free. “The bitterest irony of the case is that if Kiriakou had actually tortured, rather than talked about it, he almost certainly wouldn’t be in trouble,” he writes.

“They are going after someone who blew the whistle on torture and water boarding,” said Jesselyn Radack, national security and human rights director at the Government Accountability Project, which represents whistleblowers, “while at the same time, the people who wrote the memos and issued the orders and carried out the torture are being covered up, and get a pass.”

“I think it really takes very little time to understand that what is going on is an attempt to use censorship as a means of influencing public opinion, by silencing your critics and enabling or empowering those who present the party line,” said Scott Horton, a human rights lawyer and Harper’s blogger.

The administration’s selectivity when it comes to the prosecution of leak cases has also alarmed Republicans in Congress, some of whom are demanding to know why cases like Kiriakou’s are prosecuted while disclosures of highly classified information that bolsters the Obama administration’s national security record — such as details of the operation to kill Osama bin Laden — go unpunished. As a result, Attorney General Eric Holder in early June appointed two more U.S. attorneys to lead criminal investigation into those leaks as well.

Antiwar.com’s Kelley B. Vlahos interviewed Peter Van Buren, a Foreign Service officer also in trouble for saying things the government didn’t want him to, who had this to say about the Kiriakou case: “The bureaucracies know this intimidation keeps people in line. Other employees watch and say, not me, not my mortgage, not my family and remain silent.”

10 thoughts on “Torture With Impunity. Tell the Truth and Go to Jail.”

  1. People just need to be more creative against these criminals… Anonymous letters to foreign officials, especially 1s not on gd termz with the perps……..and their oi[ appropriatin] palls… comments to blogs naming names……… dates… techniques……….. from dark corners in libraries….. Better… Go to the bad city, town….. find the bad area neighborhood ….bario Ask, look for second hand stores… There you may be able to buy a computer or an operatin phone for textin with cash……. Are you following… me… Go to down mkt wifi ……… Case the area…. Find a good spot to send your pre-written message…. Don't go in your car, truck or even a ,moped….. Use NO registered vehicles…….. Reporting crime is a serious topic……. Especially when the criminals are the 1s doin the lions scare of investigatin…

    1. Then you run into the other problem: they aren't injured when information gets out with no 'branding.' Damage is when info comes from 'active 12 year CIA ops Jumi Biscuit,' who spoke to '30 year DC beat reporter Phil McKrevice.' Otherwise, it's easily taken as 'rumor.'

      1. Thank You persnipoles for highlighting the diminished value of anonymously sourced info…

  2. Accountability Project, which represents whistleblowers, “while at the same time, the people who wrote the memos and issued the orders and carried out the torture are being covered up, and get a pass.”

  3. Perhaps the most troubling aspect is that this "new reality" is being accepted by the citizens because they're told it is to protect the Homeland – protect the "Freedoms" [sic] – protect them from those who wold weaken the State… In fact these willing accomplices of the Archons stand and wave the flag they believe is being undermined by those who would reveal the evils and lies perpetrated by those elected to lead (serve).

    Is this because they don't want to believe that they've willingly accepted and believed all the lies they've been told over the years? Nothing worse than being proven a fool for believin' the snake oil salesman.

  4. Where is the line…….. Where IS that red line between the truth and lies in the narrative that our go government is perpetuating… Where is that line in the actions our that our government does in our name

  5. “while at the same time, the people who wrote the memos and issued the orders and carried out the torture are being covered up, and get a pass.”

  6. “I think it really takes very little time to understand that what is going on is an attempt to use censorship as a means of influencing public opinion, by silencing your critics and enabling or empowering those who present the party line,” said Scott Horton, a human rights lawyer and Harper’s blogger.winter holiday limo

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