A Cheney Cover-Up?
Someone in the White House tried to deep-six Philip Zelikow's anti-torture memo. Welcome to the latest Bush-era whodunit.
Who in the George W. Bush White House tried to shred a memo challenging the use of torture?
On April 21, Philip Zelikow, who was counselor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during the Bush administration, revealed on Foreign Policy's "Shadow Government" blog that he wrote a memo in 2005 disputing the conclusions of Bush Justice Department lawyers that torture was legal. The existence of such a memo was a surprise. But Zelikow also disclosed that the "White House attempted to collect and destroy all copies of my memo."
This story is not over. Zelikow tells Mother Jones that he doesn't know for sure who in the White House ordered the suppression of his memo, but he says that his "supposition at the time" was that the office of Vice President Dick Cheney was behind the cover-up. In an email exchange with Mother Jones, Zelikow notes that Cheney's office did not have the authority to request that his memo be deep-sixed: "They didn't run the interagency process. Such a request would more likely have come from the White House Counsel's office or from NSC staff." But that request did not reach him in written form. "It was conveyed to me, and I ignored it," Zelikow recalls. But he suspected that Team Cheney was probably behind it.
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Torture and Civilization
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Spanish Judge Gives Go-Ahead on Torture Investigation
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The People vs. Dick Cheney vs. Torture
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Torture Hits Home
The real secrets of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and the war on terror.
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The Torture Playlist
Listen to some of the torture songs that guards and interrogators chose.
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Am I a Torturer?
Ben Allbright watches The Daily Show, worships Dave Eggers—and still wound up "softening up" prisoners in Iraq.
Zelikow, who is scheduled to testify before a Senate judiciary subcommittee on Tuesday Wednesday, also notes that his memo was not the only one raising questions about the administration's legal rationale supporting so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques": "There were a number of papers, mainly arguing for alternative legal frameworks." But his memo, he adds, was "a more direct assault on [the Bush Justice Department's] own interpretation of American law."
(UPDATE: The Senate judiciary subcommittee just formally announced the testimony, which will be on Wednesday, not Tuesday, as earlier reports had indicated.)
Congressional Democrats are already seeking any surviving copies of Zelikow's memo. They might now also want to request these other papers. (No such documents have been declassified or released so far.)
Cheney's office was reportedly the hub of the Bush administration's torture program. And Neil Kinkopf, a law professor at Georgia State University, who served in the Clinton administration's Office of Legal Counsel, notes, "People in the White House—Dick Cheney for example; David Addington, his legal adviser—didn't want the existence of dissent to be known. It's not hard to imagine David Addington playing very hardball internal politics and not only wanting to prevail over the view of Zelikow but to annihilate it. It would be perfectly consistent with how he operated."
Zelikow, who ran the 9/11 Commission before joining the State Department, wrote in his original blog post that he believed the administration had failed to erase the evidence of his dissent: "I expect that one or two [copies of the memo] are still at least in the State Department's archives." And four top congressional Democrats on Monday wrote Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [PDF] and Adrienne Thomas, the acting national archivist [PDF], requesting surviving copies of the Zelikow memo.
In their letter to Clinton, the Democrats—Reps. John Conyers, Howard Berman, Jerry Nadler, and Bill Delahunt—ask for a search of the archives that Zelikow believes may contain his memo. But the Dems' letter to the archivist requests more. In that letter, Conyers and the others request the Zelikow memo along with "[c]opies of any 'documentary materials'" that "mention or refer to" the Zelikow memorandum or "are related to or reflect any effort by an official of the Bush Administration to collect, destroy, or impede the preservation or retention of this memorandum." In other words, they are looking for evidence of who attempted to bury Zelikow's opposing view.
This could even have legal implications. Federal law—including the Presidential Records Act—requires that the White House adhere to strict record-keeping standards. If a White House official tried to disappear an inconvenient memo, he or she might have committed a crime. Concerning the Presidential Records Act, the Bush administration never was a stickler. If millions of emails can disappear, what's one memo?
The Dems want to get Zelikow's allegations of a cover-up on the record and under oath, and they will. In his email to Mother Jones, Zelikow says that when he testifies next week he plans to "go through a brief chronology of the various arguments for changing the administration position." But since Zelikow doesn't appear to know who attempted to smother his memo, congressional Democrats may have to do some legwork—which could include questioning various Bush White House officials—to solve this latest Bush-era mystery.
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Fire In the Hole
If Zelikow didn't keep his own copy, any other copies might be gone forever. Anyone remember that little fire incident in the VP's office? No doubt his memo fires got a little out of hand. Even using a shredder leaves evidence. When papers are burned, not much is left.
Is it possible to
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Is it possible to reconstitute it from his computer?
Proof from Cheney's computer
Cheney purposefully did not use computers or email during his Bush administration tenure, and apparently even went out of his way to avoid committing anything to paper. I doubt anyone's going to get anything from his computer.
what we knew when we know it is fire proof. all we need is read
mizmo
I only hope that people can
I only hope that people can pull their heads out of theirs asses and follow through on decisions to help rather than merely relying on voting to help, because voting means nothing when people refuse to act upon what they publicly state their opinions are.
torture witch hunt
If Zelikow has no copies of his memo , yet is so adamant in his assertions,,,,He has the credibility of an Olbermaddow source or a John Kerry boat ride
OlberMaddow
Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow have some of the MOST credible and trustworthy guests on their programs in all of "TV-land." What are you talking about??? You can hardly do better than those two -- except for following C-Span as many of us do. Your right-wing bias is showing.
I wish I had saved that
I wish I had saved that Rachel Maddow episode on my DVR, because she already asked him some hard hitting questions. He insisted, during that interview that they didn't get all of them, nor did they express the desire to track down each one. He said he has copies at home. I suggest he put them in an undisclosed location.
Maybe that episode is still available on MSNBC? But I remember clearly he said that.
Swift-boating still?
This reference to a "John Kerry Boat Ride" is sooo much tardy charicter assassination. I am a vet and unless you wore a uniform and went somewhere you might get shot at for your country you can just piss yer "boat ride" right down yer leg. So Kerry, disgusted with a military policy that wasted mens lives threw his medals away. To me that was a couragious act in the context of the day that was. Bringing up a lame and groundless political attack from half a decade ago is merely offensive. If you don't like Kerry, fine, but unless you credibly were there in a Swift Boat yourself, don't diss a his sacrifice and service.
Zelikow couldnt keep a copy of a secret memo
Without subjuecting himself to prosecution. Since it was a secret program, his memo was treated secret, he would have been in violation of the secrets act if he had kept a copy outside of his official duties.
As it is he couldnt wistleblow until the other memos were released, therby giving him cover that he was providing details of a secret.
"Secrets Act"?
"Secrets Act"? The United States doesn't have one. You're thinking of the United Kingdom. We only have a presidential order that forms the legal basis for the U.S. classification system. Doesn't carry the same weight as law. (See: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13292).
Sub at heart - You watch to
Sub at heart - You watch to much TV. Read more and work on your comprension skills. Or, simply go back to clearing brush with boy george.
The memo was not 'secret' or intended to be secret, nor would it be considered classified.
Author is in violation of nothing - genius!
It was made to be secret by the evil prick Cheney, the same wag who committed high treason with the outing of CIA operative Plame, with a big assist from Pillsbury dough boy - Rove.
And for those who would foolishly suspect that Zelikow failed to keep a record of transcript . . . we are not talking about Palin or 'Joe the plumber' (GOP ticket for 2012) here. Could you be any more thick or ridiculous? Pray tell - no.
We can plan the textile to
We can plan the textile to incorporate the electronics directly into the cloth from the very beginning. This allows us to weave the most direct circuits, the most robust connections, and the most intricate designs, allowing our projects to be super groovalicious!
Zelikow Memo's
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I \can now understand why this stuff needs to be covered up .Now MURDER charges are starting to crop up See story in the RAW NEWS REPORT, Integrations have lead to MURDER We, the USA, Have broken more laws than we will ever know. Prosecute the BOOSH cabal for MURDER olny 20 yrs for torture life for murder
cheney/rove hybrid
does anyone share my perception that rove and cheney are physically, actually heads, resemble each other...? please let me know
Yes, it's called old, fat
Yes, it's called old, fat and white. That's what they ALL have in common and why they all resemble eachother.
They All Look Like Old WOMEN to Me
Has anyone noticed how the bastions of the Republican party seem to share effeminate features? Kinda reminds me of Eric Idle and his spoof on dangerous old women who will attack without provocation.
CYA
My guess is that Zelikow is full of shite and desperately trying to CYA.
How come he didn't speak about this at the time?
Or resign in protest if he objected?
When was the last time YOU resigned?
It's very easy to suggest that someone ELSE "resign in protest." When was the last time YOU resigned in protest? Has your employer ever done anything you disagreed with? If so, why didn't you resign in protest?
If Zelikow had resigned in protest, he still couldn't say WHY he had resigned, unless he was willing to go to prison for revealing classified information. That's also why he didn't speak up at the time. Again, it's really easy to suggest that someone ELSE risk going to jail. I'm not talking about a few days in a local jail for some charge relating to a protest, but 5+ years in federal prison, plus the loss of his license as an attorney. Even if he were acquitted, he would have spent at least $100,000 in legal fees.
Also, remember who was involved. Cheney & Rove are known for being vindictive, as well as authoritarian. Look what they did to Valerie Plame Wilson. Another whistelblower was not only forced out of her job but was subjected to a criminal investigatiion and faced disbarment as an attorney.
Do You Know What "CYA" Means?
@greydog -- your comment doesn't make any sense. Zelikow is not in any trouble at all, legally, professionally, or politically.
He has no need for "CYA" activity. CYA means "cover your ass," and Zelikow has no need for cover.
And he DID speak about this at the time! That's why he wrote the memo!
And he's continued to speak about it -- that's why he's testifying this week.
war crimes
Torture is a war crime. Anyone authorizing it, doing it, or refusing to prosecute torture is a war criminal.
The big question is WHO
The big question is WHO ORDERED THE CODE RED
I think all those people
I think all those people including Bush and Cheney should be responsible for the crimes they did.
Cheney 'cover up'?
Suspect? I think...what kind of journalism is this? If you don't have the facts please limit your reporting to "The National Enquirer".
Lost memo
Of course, with Cheney being involved, the memo is probably in some undisclosed location.
Cheney Cover Up
Suspect? I think...what kind of journalism is this? If you don't have the facts please limit your reporting to "The National Enquirer".
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This is Internet journalism - 98% BS & 2% questionable!! If you don't have the facts, do like Fox News - make them up.
Nothing is going to come of any of this. Washington and the media is obsessing on the "Torture Thing" right now, they will be on something else next week.
Cheney is Corporate America
Cheney is Corporate America made manifest.
He stands as the only real image of corporate power.
Corporate America vrs. the Federal Government of the United States.
I think this is THE battle.
If Cheney walks "without so much as a by-your-leave," we can all decipher who triumphs.
I am beginning to see DC as a shooting set for Gone with the Wind.
Zelikow the debunker?
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RE: "Zelikow, who ran the 9/11 Commission before joining the State Department";
I, for one, will NEVER believe that three buildings just fell straight down. If Zelikow was responsible for "debunking the theories", he has zero credibility, regardless of his goals at this point. He's just another scoundrel trying to cover his own a$$.
DECLASSIFY ALL NOW!
I concur 100% with wazzup -
Zelikow - the professor of mythology - headed up the 9/11 commission which covered up the greatest re-invention of physics since Isaac Newton. That this sociopathic liar might actually come out on the correct side of the torture issue is either an atypical eruption of his schizophrenic personality disorder, or a COVER-UP to regain his credibility, which is (if you've been paying attention) his prime occupation. I vote COVER-UP.
Long live globalism and multinational corporatism (aka global fascism)! Meet the new boss - worse than the old boss!
Zelikow kept copies of his memo
Zelikow said on Rachel Maddow that he STILL HAS copies of the memo at home.
You've kissed the malarkey stone
Cheney's office was reportedly the hub of the Bush administration's torture program. And Neil Kinkopf, a law professor at Georgia State University, who served in the Clinton administration's Office of Legal Counsel, notes, "People in the White House—Dick Cheney for example; David Addington, his legal adviser—didn't want the existence of dissent to be known. It's not hard to imagine David Addington playing very hardball internal politics and not only wanting to prevail over the view of Zelikow but to annihilate it. It would be perfectly consistent with how he operated."
That's the thinnest piece of evidence I've ever seen. You say Cheney's office was "reportedly" the hub and then you go on to quote a Clinton era official about what his "opinion" is of the situation. Now, let's apply this to Obama. If we consider that Biden's office is the "hub" of Swine Flu hysteria, how much credibility would a person have if they then cited the opinion of a Bush Administration flunky? Hmm?
What blows you out of the water is this--we know from the case of Valerie Plame that Dick Cheney's handwritten notes on a document were preserved and used as evidence in the Scooter Libby trial. Now, apply some common sense here--if something that damaging was preserved, cited in a Federal case, and entered into the National Archives, why wouldn't the Zelikow memo be there?
And, um, do we actually know Zelikow is telling the truth?
Zelikow, who ran the 9/11 Commission before joining the State Department, wrote in his original blog post that he believed the administration had failed to erase the evidence of his dissent: "I expect that one or two [copies of the memo] are still at least in the State Department's archives." And four top congressional Democrats on Monday wrote Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [PDF] and Adrienne Thomas, the acting national archivist [PDF], requesting surviving copies of the Zelikow memo.
What are the standards for archiving material then? If Zelikow actually wrote what he said he wrote, then there's an excellent chance that the memos are included in the archives, which are being processed for inclusion into the Bush Library.
It sounds like a bunch of hoo-hah to me. Hindsight is 20-20. And if Cheney were so powerful, why wasn't Libby pardoned? Why wasn't anyone pardoned in this matter? Oh, that's right. He was omniscent, evil, corrupt and controlled the US government--and yet, on January 20, they had to wheel him out of the capital after his job was taken over by Joe Biden.
How's that working out for you, liberals?
"It sounds like a bunch of
"It sounds like a bunch of hoo-hah to me. Hindsight is 20-20. And if Cheney were so powerful, why wasn't Libby pardoned?"
Libby wasn't pardoned because Bush stupidly announced on national TV that the person responsible would be prosecuted. How's that working out for you, Norm?
For me, it's working out
For me, it's working out fabulous.
For you unhinged liberals, well, let's see. You're NOT going to get your Bush Administration perp walk. You're NOT going to see anyone prosecuted for defending this country. You're NOT going to see a telecom company get prosecuted for turning over records. You're NOT going to see a retreat from Iraq and you ARE going to see an increase in the size and scope of the Afghan War.
And you get to deal with Joe Biden for the next 3 and a half years or better.
I think I'm sitting here with a daisy in my hand and the blushing cheeks of happiness.
someone sounds bitter
talk about wanting the country to fail
"you aren't getting this, you aren't getting that"
you sound like a wicked old witch.
Clinton/Bush knew about 9/11 in advance too, but document stolen
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Apparently ex-president Clinton sent Sandy Berger into the National Archives to steal documents which explicitly warned of the upcoming WTC attack plan.
Bush knew all about the attack plans too, as did others in the Whitehouse. Sibel Edmonds is a former FBI translator who personally saw evidence of this and she is still being silenced by the court system. Her website is justacitizen.com
The wheel is turning and it can't slow down...
The important thing this memo would reveal is that Bush and Cheney knew what they were doing was absolutely illegal from the get-go. And to attempt to destroy this evidence means that their acts were not only illegal, but that they engaged in a conspiracy to circumvent both US and international law. Exactly how much more evidence do Conyers and Leahy need before hearings begin?
Cheney is Corporate America
Cheney is Corporate America made manifest.
Cheney is the sole exposed image of the high power of corporate power.
Corporate America vrs. the Federal Government of the United States.
I think this is THE battle.
If Cheney walks "without so much as a by-your-leave," we will know who really is in power.
I am beginning to see DC as a shooting lot for Gone with the Wind.
Presidential Records Act
Presidential Records Act violations, perjury, obstruction charges, and worst of all for Conservatives - exposure. There is no legal charge short of Treason and pre-meditated Mass Murder that could apply to Bush. Bush killed 4,000 Americans, Bush killed 10,000s of Iraqis on purpose and then said it was a mistake. Bush conspired against the interests of the United States and attempted to set precedents to chip away at every Ammendment except #2. Especially the 8th Ammendment - the ammendment Conservatives hate the most and want to chip away at under whatever pretext they can. Bush did his Iraq war knowing it was contrary to American interests and he killed Americans en-masse. Charging Bush for torture is no more satisfying to me than charging him for perjury - both charges are far short of what Bush did - and Bush did these things on purpose to try to make America totalitarian through endless war and endless chipping away at Americans rights. By all means, Get the Bush traitors for jaywalking - By all means get Bush for violations of Presidential Records.
9/11 Was Inside Job, proof..
Bush administration was about pure evil and I can prove it. Google this: “Active Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust from 9/11 World Trade Center Catastrophe.” This twenty-two page research document shows un-reacted nano-thermite particles found in dust collected from eleven locations around the three destroyed world trade center buildings. This is the smoking gun proof that 9/11 was an inside job. Speculation of the amounts used to destroy the three world trade center buildings is estimated around one hundred tons of thermite. Once you research this evidence and come to the same conclusion, you then must look at all of the Bush administration actions after this event. The 9/11 event was used as a unified terror tool to justify an increase in executive powers and the invasion of two sovereign countries.
1) Afghanistan as a pipeline route from Turkmenistan
2) Iraq war for oil
3) TSA surveillance
4) Torture
5) Domestic spy program
6) Consolidation and control of the forth estate
7) Allowing oil companies to bid on oil futures, driving up prices
8) To many to list, make your own list
Obama’s reluctance to prosecute only illustrates the need for a Federal Constitutional Convention. Throw out all of these bums and rewrite a new central government operating system.
Why are people so anxious
to defend KNOWN members of Al Qaeda, who are terrorists and want to kill innocent civilians? You all cry foul against using "enhanced interrogation" techniques on terrorists. How about crying foul for all 3,000 Americans who were murdered on 9/11? And how about for every child without a father or mother, or every husband or wife without a spouse? These techniques were NOT classified as torture contrary to what all of you are saying. They were approved by the Justice Department, and not only that, but high ranking Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi were briefed about this as well and they did not object either! Not to mention that the last four CIA Directors openly opposed Obama releasing these memos in the first place. When I think of torture, I think of people ripping out someone's fingernails one at a time. I do not think of someone having water poured on their face for a mere 12 seconds at a time.
Americans are authorized to use lethal force in their own homes to protect themselves and their families against intruders, but our Government can't even lay a hand on KNOWN terrorists in order to protect it's citizens? Mercenaries are not granted protection under the Geneva Conventions, so why the hell should terrorists be given protection?
"Restoring America's image" isn't going to stop terrorism from happening. Case in point: 9/11. 9/11 happened just months after Clinton left office. Bill Clinton was a pacifist and focused largely on peace, diplomacy, foreign policy, etc. If these tactics worked so well and solved the problem of people hating us and indiscriminately wanting to murder us, then 9/11 shouldn't have happened.
Terrorism is a real issue that happens and needs to be confronted aggressively. It's happened under every single administration for the last 40 years! And people think it's suddenly going to stop because now we're being nice to bad guys. Right. I say leave all the tools on the table for fighting these people, including "enhanced interrogation." Torture is wrong. But I don't believe the techniques they were using was torture. And I definitely do not advocate protecting people that want to murder me or my family, or any of my fellow Americans.
I'd be very carefull on Zelikow as a Saint :^(
Mr. Cover-up Zelikow 911 --he knows soon that he will have to answer his roll in 911 cover-up. By ratting on Cheney,he will get support from the Democrats.
Be very carefull on this Is4real trader.No arabs did 911 attacks--and he knows it.
Olbermaddow
Cascadienne:
Don't know about Maddow but Olbermann is one of the most dishonest idiots on cable news. And both routinely have on only those who will rubber-stamp their own foregone conclusions. Credible and trustworthy are two of the least accurately descriptive adjectives that apply to them. The fact that you think otherwise proves your own left-wingnut bias.
Go back and look at that Gallup poll. While 54% think that waterboarding is torture (it is not), 55% approve its having been used as an interrogation method against terrorists. Keep pursuing this witch hunt and watch what happens if you try to prosecute.
What was it the Left used to say whenever Clinton's trangressions were brought up --- "Clinton isn't president anymore - move on." Well, George W. Bush isn't president anymore. Quit looking so hard for a memo that doesn't (never did) exist. Start looking instead for Barry Obama's American birth certificate.
Zelikow knows Cover-Up
Don't forget that Zelikow himself was quite a master of the Cover-Up when he was the Executive in charge of the 9/11 Commission and their outrageous "Non-Report".
Prosecute the Criminals!
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Now that the Bush-Cheney Thugs are out of power, they can no longer
use "War on Terror", "National Security" or even "Global Economy" to
cover-up their graft and corruption. Nobody is Above the Law... Follow
the Evidence... Follow the MONEY... Prosecute the Criminals!
Hmmm... www.jpinsatx.newsvine.com/
Torture is NOT relative
For those that say torture does not include waterboarding:
1.) Our troops go through a process to prepare them for torture and waterboarding is on the list of things they are trained to withstand.
2.) We prosecuted people in WWII for waterboarding our own troops! People were found guilty specifically of waterboarding.
3.) Many unbiased studies have been done by experts in their field, and all conclude that anything said under tortureous circumstances is not reliable information. I am not a liberal, but I also cannot believe how little people are appalled by the fact that our country "openly" tortured prisoners (who were mostly NOT terrorists, but were simply in the very wrong place with the very wrong people at the very wrong time.)
What happens the next time another country employs these "enhanced interrogation techniques" on our own troops? Will we let said country get away with it? Will they throw our own past in our faces?
It does yield accurate
It does yield accurate information. If someone is faced with either telling someone what they know, or having their fingernails ripped out one by one, my guess is that most people would probably tell them what they know.
And if you think America is the only country using "enhanced interrogation techniques," you are sadly mistaken friend.
Lastly, these are not "troops" that the CIA was waterboarding. These were known members of Al Qaeda and a known mastermind behind 9/11 which murdered 3,000 Americans (in case you forgot). It would definitely be a crime to do that against enemy soldiers. But alas, these are not enemy soldiers. Read up on the Geneva Conventions. Mercenaries are not granted any rights under the Geneva conventions. And terrorists shouldn't be given those rights either. POW's however, are a different story.
