When even Ed Morrissey thinks there has been obstruction of justice, you know the Republicans have a problem. Ed is correct in noting that the destruction of the torture tapes has been highly compartmentalized. In fact, the whole blame for the destruction has been laid at the feet of a recently retired officer, Jose A. Rodriguez Jr.
This is definitely too convenient. If we are to believe the story, the former head of the Directorate of Operations made a unilateral decision to destroy the torture tapes and didn’t even bother to tell then DCI Porter Goss, or the CIA’s in house legal team. And that explanation isn’t exactly flying.
It was not until at least a year after the destruction of the tapes that any members of Congress were informed about the action, the officials said. On Friday, Representative Peter Hoekstra, the Michigan Republican who was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee from 2004 to 2006, said he had never been told that the tapes were destroyed.
“I think the intelligence committee needs to get all over this,” said Mr. Hoekstra, who has been a strong supporter of the C.I.A. detention and interrogation program. “This raises a red flag that needs to be looked at.”
Jose Rodriguez is getting thrown under a bus, but a lot may depend on his willingness to play the role of Ollie North. There is certainly a sentiment among Republicans that there was nothing wrong with torturing people and that the Democrats are undermining national security by complaining about tough tactics. Here’s a comment from Ed’s place.
I understand the “oversight” issue. I favor “oversight” of all government bureaucracies, but not “oversight” by publication. The left has seized upon this as an opportunity to attack the underlying practice– water boarding, and the Administration. Whether the use of water boarding as an interrogation technique should continue will doubtless remain controversial.
Insubordination within a government agency is deeply troubling. In the case of the CIA, this is a problem that extends back to the beginning of the Bush Administration. Partisan enemies of the Administration– including Valerie Plame– were permitted to remain in the agency, and used their perches to back-stab Administration policy-makers. Scooter Libby was a casualty of this Fifth Column.
And there’s an important difference between a management problem (simple insubordination) brought on by an arrogant, reckless, or careless subordinate, and insubordination caused by fear of prosecution resulting from the politicization of the water-boarding issue. The latter was caused by Democrat demonization of CIA operatives trying to protect the American people by use of controversial means.
I’d say that the political environment created by Democrat defeatists seeking to demonize the Administration caused this insubordination. And bad as insubordination is, it’s merely a symptom of a wider breakdown in our national security bureaucracy caused by Democrat politicization of the war. We all must bear the consequences of such reckless behavior.
That’s basically the Ollie North defense. While not exactly disputing what the CIA did was illegal, the blame is shifted to the Democrats for making torture illegal in the first place. Substitute ‘aid to the Contras’ for ‘torture’ and you have the same thing.
Will Rodriguez go before Congress and proudly claim that he was only looking out for patriotic CIA officers that were only following the president’s orders? Will he fall on his sword and back up the claims that he made the decision to destroy the tapes by himself?
Somehow, I doubt it. Unless he is assured of a pardon, why would he do it?
The Senate Intelligence Committee announced Friday that it was starting an investigation into the destruction of the videotapes.
Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the West Virginia Democrat who is chairman of the committee, said, “Whatever the intent, we must get to the bottom of it.”
I would never have predicted that this issue would become the BIG ONE that opened the door to a bipartisan investigation. Years of observation have trained me to expect the Republicans to circle the wagons and justify any atrocity…especially torture.
But this is such a clear cut example of obstruction of justice (including stonewalling the 9/11 Commission) that there seems to be little the Republicans can do but investigate.
The fate of many people now lies in the hands of one retired case officer. Will Mr. Rodriguez fall on his sword, or will he take down the ship of state?
