The 'quiet war' between the Bush White House and the CIA goes on. It current conflict began when shortly after 9/11, conservative journos and bloggers hammered the lie that it was the fault of "intelligence agencies", like the CIA, that more wasn't done to stop the terror attacks.
The fact is that the CIA, like the FBI, passed on clear warnings that an attack was imminent.
The 'quiet war' continues now as the CIA finds its international agents facing charges for abducting 'War On Terror' detainees from the streets of European cities, and possible lawsuits from those who were detained and tortured during renditions, while in the custody of the CIA.
The CIA claims that Bush's own attorney general told them they were legally clear to conduct renditions, but now there are some very, very nervous agents and operatives who know Bush Co. will toss them to the wolves to save their own skins.
Which is mostly why we are now seeing stories like the one below.
From the Financial Times :
Go Here For The Full StoryThe Bush administration had to empty its secret prisons and transfer terror suspects to the military-run detention centre at Guantánamo this month in part because CIA interrogators had refused to carry out further interrogations and run the secret facilities, according to former CIA officials and people close to the programme.
The former officials said the CIA interrogators’ refusal was a factor in forcing the Bush administration to act earlier than it might have wished.
When Mr Bush announced the suspension of the secret prison programme in a speech before the fifth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, some analysts thought he was trying to gain political momentum before the November midterm congressional elections.
The administration publicly explained its decision in light of the legal uncertainty surrounding permissible interrogation techniques following the June Supreme Court ruling that all terrorist suspects in detention were entitled to protection under Common Article Three of the Geneva Conventions.
But the former CIA officials said Mr Bush’s hand was forced because interrogators had refused to continue their work until the legal situation was clarified because they were concerned they could be prosecuted for using illegal techniques.
One intelligence source also said the CIA had refused to keep the secret prisons going.
