Cheney's Role Deepens: His Office Suggested Waterboarding

[babylonsister]

Cheney's Role Deepens

by Robert Windrem


Former NBC News investigative producer Robert Windrem reports that the vice president’s office suggested waterboarding an Iraqi prisoner who was suspected of knowing about a relationship between al Qaeda and Saddam.

Robert Windrem, who covered terrorism for NBC, reports exclusively in The Daily Beast that:

*Two U.S. intelligence officers confirm that Vice President Cheney’s office suggested waterboarding an Iraqi prisoner, a former intelligence official for Saddam Hussein, who was suspected to have knowledge of a Saddam-al Qaeda connection.

*The former chief of the Iraq Survey Group, Charles Duelfer, in charge of interrogations, tells The Daily Beast that he considered the request reprehensible.

*Much of the information in the report of the 9/11 Commission was provided through more than 30 sessions of torture of detainees.

At the end of April 2003, not long after the fall of Baghdad, U.S. forces captured an Iraqi who Bush White House officials suspected might provide information of a relationship between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s regime. Muhammed Khudayr al-Dulaymi was the head of the M-14 section of Mukhabarat, one of Saddam’s secret police organizations. His responsibilities included chemical weapons and contacts with terrorist groups.

Two senior U.S. intelligence officials at the time tell The Daily Beast that the suggestion to waterboard an Iraqi prisoner came from the Office of Vice President Cheney.

more...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-05-13/cheneys-role-deepens/full/

[SpiralHawk]

1. For a Republicon war profiteer with 5 freaking military deferments

Cheney perfectly reveals the soul of the craven Republicon Homelander Chickenhawk Family Values: they live in fear, avoid responsibility and service, and act in the world with small-souled greed, perversity & cruelty.

[ThomWV]

2. Cheney's office never "Suggested" anything - they Ordered it, you can bet your ass on it

And when Government employees would not do the deed they hired contractors who would. We can call them hit men if you like.

[KharmaTrain]

3. And We Still Haven't Heard The Worst Of It...

Crashcart is playing a game of jury nullification. He knows his crimes will come forward and is trying to get ahead of the spin by coming up with one excuse after another as to how his war crimes "kept the country safe". It signals to me there is more dirt under the carpet to come.

This torture issue isn't new to most of us...but to millions of others who were kept in a cocoon by the corporate media and now that the proof of those crime come forward, it's become a "spin" game...that somehow there is a defense for all these crimes. Somehow we have to give this criminal the "benefit of the doubt" cause he was "acting on our behalf".

What's the real picture developing here is how out of control the OVP was (not that most of us didn't know it) and in many ways we'll find out actions were taken unilaterally and not only did crashcart abuse power in all but negating the legislative and judicial, but how he probably broke laws and abused power within the executive as well.

As has been the case with the "booooosh legacy"...many of us knew things were bad, we're getting our worst fears proven...and it easily is worse. Cheney spins cause he must...the moment he shuts up, the real investigations begin.

[babylonsister]

4. This seems to suggest he was in fact trying to torture people

to justify their twisted efforts to make this war legitimate. So if the detainees say there's a relationship between Saddam and al queda, well then that's why we're there.

He put the cart before the horse, then had to plant words in the horse's mouth through whatever means (torture) necessary.

[global1]

5. Given What You Just Said Do You Think 'Dubya' Will Turn On Cheney.......

if this looks to tarnish Dubya's legacy more than he's tarnished it himself?

[KharmaTrain]

7. He Already Did...

When booooshie fired Rummy after the '06 elections, that signaled that the "divorce" from Unka Dick had begun. Then there was boooshie not giving a pardon to Scooter despite crashcart's pressure. Methinks in his little room, little georgie, if he has any regrets about the mess he left behind in Washington, is blaming cheney as the cause of the problems.

In the early days, booooshie needed cheney...the adult to watch over things while he played. Cheney used this relationship to abuse power and turn the OVP into the most powerful in the executive and boooooshie would take the blame for what were crashcart's failures.

While booooosh lacks intelligence, he sure didn't lack ego. It's gotta hurt that no one calls, no one wants to hear what he has to say and that his name/popularity ranks below spinach. But Cheney doesn't care...this is all about the Dick...always has been, always will be.

Cheers...

[babylonsister]

8. If you mean publicly, that's anyone's guess.

I suppose if it ever comes to a 'he said/he said' in a courtroom, it could happen. Right now, idiot son hopes we all forget about his role.

Cheney appearing so often mouthing off, and like last week on Face The Nation, claiming idiot son knew everything he knew, can't sit well for a man who wants to embrace his obscurity.

[malaise]

6. But dead men tell no tales

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5652370

[kentuck]

9. And we wonder why Cheney is so out front on this issue..

CYA.