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No nukes in Iran, no tapes in Langley, no credibility in the White House

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Progreso Weekly - Dec 13, 2007
http://progreso-weekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=269&Itemid=1


No nukes in Iran, no tapes in Langley, no credibility in the White House

By Max J. Castro

The tattered credibility of the Bush administration -- and of the
United States in the eyes of the world -- suffered two massive new
blows last week:

* A joint report by U.S. intelligence agencies said Iran had
stopped its nuclear arms program in 2003, contradicting the report
issued by the agencies two years ago as well as repeated U.S.
accusations against Iran.

* The CIA revealed it had destroyed the tapes of interrogations of
alleged terrorists despite advice from the White House counsel and the
Department of Justice to preserve them.

The intelligence report on the alleged Iranian nuclear weapons program,
called a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), contradicted years of
charges by the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of
State. The revelations also come in the wake of increasingly hostile
U.S. actions toward Iran as well as alarmist statements by Bush and
other American leaders reminiscent of those used in selling the Iraq
war five years ago.

Although it is unclear exactly when President Bush learned the details
of the NIE, it is evident from changes in his rhetoric that he has
known for some time about the central conclusion of the report, namely
that Iran is not building nuclear weapons.

Previously, Bush spoke of the need to stop the Iranian nuclear arms
program; more recently, the President has talked of the necessity to
prevent the Iranians from gaining the knowledge for enriching uranium.
Thus, upon learning that four years ago the Iranians had done what the
United States was insisting that they do, the President did not drop
his demands and soften his tone. Instead, he moved the goal posts and
continued ratcheting up the rhetoric, at one point invoking the
prospect of World War III unless Iran can be prevented from obtaining
nuclear knowledge. Amazingly, not even the findings of the NIE, which
put a lie to the thrust of Bushs claims, managed to persuade the
President to change his tune.

News about the suspension of the Iranian weapons program undercut the
administrations drive to harden international sanctions against Iran
and took the wind out of the sails of neoconservatives lobbying for a
U.S. military strike against Iran. Once again, the world witnessed a
case of the Bush administration arguing for aggressive actions against
another state based on disastrously flawed information.

The second bombshell of the week, the disclosure of the destruction of
the interrogation tapes, not only seriously undermines the credibility
of the United States abroad but also raises questions about the rule of
law at home.

The explanation offered by the head of the CIA -- that tapes were
destroyed to prevent them from falling in the hands of terrorists who
could then take revenge against interrogators and their families -- is
simply not credible. Are we to believe that the CIA, which holds
countless secrets, cannot keep a set of videotapes out of the hands of
terrorists? Are we to believe that instead of destroying the tapes the
agency could not have altered them to blot out the faces of CIA
officers?

What is much more likely than the official story is that the videotapes
were destroyed to keep them out of the hands of potential Congressional
and Justice Department investigators as well as away from the eyes of
the court of international opinion.

According to a report in the December 7 edition of the New York Times,
the tapes were destroyed in part because officers were concerned that
video showing harsh interrogation methods could expose agency officials
to legal risks, several officials said.

That suggests a strong chance that the tapes were destroyed to conceal
evidence of torture and to obstruct justice in order to protect those
who carried it out and, especially, those who approved it. Whoever was
ultimately responsible for the destruction of the tapes also probably
had in mind the example of Richard Nixon, likely to have survived the
Watergate scandal if he had destroyed the audio tapes incriminating him.

Several investigations are planned into the destruction of the
interrogation tapes and other related issues, such as why the CIA did
not comply with the 9/11 Commission and federal courts that sought to
obtain the tapes. Given the track record of this administration,
however, and the tacit or enthusiastic support of members of Congress,
including many Democrats, for almost any action rationalized as vital
to the war on terror, there is every reason to be skeptical about
these latest inquiries.

Seven years of scandals and outrages have inured Bush watchers to the
deceptions and transgressions that have taken place during this
administration. Yet the latest revelations have managed to shock even
those accustomed to phantom weapons of mass destruction and twisted
exercises in redefining torture. 

The good news is that we managed to find out that Iran is not building
nuclear weapons before the attack was launched to preempt their
deployment. The bad news is that the Bush administration continues to
act as if nothing has changed. 


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