Continue to TheAtlantic. Top StoriesGreed Is Good: A 300-Year History of a Dangerous Idea America's Rebel Band of Custom-Bike Builders This Tax Season: Chaos for Same-Sex Couples How Nigeria Became Africa's Largest Economy Overnight Greed Is Good: A 300-Year History of a Dangerous Idea The Great Living-Room War: Live TV vs. Top StoriesThe Word Cloud of a Town What I Learned About Stop-and-Frisk From Watching My Black Son Sheriff Joe Arpaio: The Most Lawless Lawman in America The Transformation of a Company Town: St. By Ben W. Heineman Jr. By letting the CIA vet the torture report, the White House and Congress are giving Americans a new reason to have contempt for an illegitimate classification system. Is America's classification system legitimate? When leakers subvert it, should citizens cheer or condemn them? State secrets kept by the U.S. government have been under attack, most famously by Julian Assange, Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden. Tens of millions of Americans defend at least some of their revelations, illegal or not–to the consternation of national security state officials and their allies, who have responded by defending America's classification system. For the Obama Administration, this has meant an unprecedented effort to punish leaks it didn't opportunistically order with criminal inquiries and prosecutions. Some members of Congress have taken to denouncing leakers as traitors. And at venues like Lawfare, a group blog for the national security establishment, the accustom argument is that "the United States has the most expensive, elaborate, and multi-tiered intelligence oversight apparatus of any nation on Earth." There's no need for illegal leaks. Existing oversight is adequate. A lot of people think that the fight over the CIA torture report suggests otherwise–that it shows an obvious, absurd flaw in way our government decides what information ought to be public, and that new leaks would be justified to remedy that flaw. I find it hard not to agree. By way of background, the Senate spent several years and millions of dollars studying the interrogation of War on Terrorism prisoners during the Bush Administration, addressing both whether torture was perpetrated and whether the methods used were effective at eliciting useful intelligence. That report has been suppressed for well over a year. Last week, the Senate intelligence committee voted to make a very small portion of the finished report public. Even those pages are still secret, pending a declassification review by the White House. Most objectionable of all: the fact that the White House and Congress both agree that the CIA should play a significant, influential role in the declassification process. Think about that for a minute. This report apparently suggests that the CIA used ineffective interrogation techniques and lied about them to Congress, arguably jeopardizing the very counterterrorism efforts intended to keep us safe. It suggests that CIA employees perpetrated acts that are not only illegal, but that the United States government is bound by treaty to investigate and prosecute. As well, the report suggests that the CIA engaged in behavior that many Americans regard as morally abhorrent and shameful. The CIA has as significant and intractable a conflict of interest here as any imaginable. Surely they shouldn't be given a black highlighter to use on the report. Yet the intelligence agency is playing precisely that role. Little wonder that some are reacting like the Freedom of the Press Foundation's Trevor Timm. Under the headline "Leak the CIA report: it's the only way to know the whole truth about torture," he writes, "parts of the report are now in the hands of Senate staffers, White House officials, State Department employees, CIA spooks and soon maybe more. It would not come without great personal risk, but the American people may only be served well if someone with a conscience is brave enough to leak the full report and hold the CIA accountable for its crimes. Leaks have been critical to the public knowledge of Bush-era torture since the first hints of Abu Ghraib, and as longtime torture investigator Katherine Hawkins noted, "The Senate report would likely never have existed ... if it were not for previous investigations by journalists and non-governmental organizations. Once again, CIA misbehavior is prompting patriotic Americans to call for leaks. Now, the public doesn't need to read every word in the torture report. If it includes the names of CIA agents, for example, I'd have no objection to blacking them out, as I presume the New York Times or the Washington Post would do if it were leaked to them. There may well be other parts of the report that should stay classified too, and I hope anyone who gets their hands on it would consult with the government before publication. The argument I want to make is that, in this case, I trust newspapers more than the CIA to decide what information it's in the public interest to release. Likewise, I trust Glenn Greenwald more than CIA head John Brennan. After all, only one of them served high up in the CIA during the torture years. Meanwhile, national security establishment types trust the CIA to play a significant role in the declassification process, despite their gargantuan conflicts of interest. Why should any of us put our faith in a process that would allow such a conflict of interest? The most effective argument for leakers and transparency isn't made by Assange or Greenwald or Snowden, it's made unwittingly, by the CIA and its overseers. National security state apologists have worked so hard, in the wake of the Snowden revelations, to convince Americans that the classification system is legitimate. They ought to be angriest of all that the CIA is trying to exploit it to cover its tracks. But they don't seem angry at the CIA or its overseers. Its almost as if they can't be counted on to maintain the integrity of intelligence oversight, and transparency really is the only way Americans can prevent horrific abuses from being buried. I don't know if the CIA report will ever be leaked in full. But if that leak ever happens, national security state apologists should blame themselves. Presented by Conor Friedersdorf is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he focuses on politics and national affairs. He lives in Venice, California, and is the founding editor of The Best of Journalism, a newsletter devoted to exceptional nonfiction. A documentary shot entirely on 8 mm and 16 mm film follows artist and skateboarder Evan "Stink" Rossell as he paints abandoned buildings. After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Video Computer Vision Syndrome and You Save your eyes. Take breaks. The Transformation of a Company Town: St. For Shame: The Giant Poster That Shows Drone Pilots the People They're Bombing Apr 7, 2014 Alexis C. The Great Living-Room War: Live TV vs. Mega-Donors Are Now More Important Than Most Politicians Apr 4, 2014 Rebecca J. Russia's Plans to Partition Ukraine Apr 2, 2014 David A. Copyright © 2014 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All Rights Reserved. CDN powered by Edgecast Networks. Insights powered by Parsely . Powered by the Parse.ly Publisher Platform (P3). Gym cancellation template Tcatchy headlines for dating sites Breast cancer awareness door decorating Japanese blackberry tour themes Tfinancial & managerial accounting third edition by charles t San diego boat moorage Pharmacy allegation math Money talks free acount Koleksi cerita lucah malaysia Matthew purke draft Dog woman stuck knot Hair styles for feminine Best debit card 2013 Good sexting lines to guysood sexting lines to Spice platinum tv online Quotes for boyfriends who are in jail Birthday messages to a loved one boyfriend Adderall oxycodone sleep Friendship bracelets with templates Penile enlargement surgery gallery Dad and son jerk off together Inspirational poems about death Free teas study guide Taking amoxicillin and naproxen Knitted pattern for slouch hat Resume sample health insurance billing and coding Example of a nursing recommendation Kuta software geometry proofs Prokaryotic cell worksheets Which takes longer to withdraw from, oxycodone or suboxone Bereavement leave letter for school An once of marijua Domestic violence chart and graphs Nutrition display board ideas La revista ecos Free trailer plans 2 guys 1 horse actual video not reactions guys 1 horse actual video John belushi cheeseburger Imperial conversion worksheets Imagenes black berry . com Meet and fuck bad santaeet and fuck bad santa Online dating profile examples to attract men Funny washington nicknames Foyando a mi hijastra E-mai reply to confirm job interview Shark lagoon morning temptations help Bilder av nakne jenter Can you snort amitriptyline hydrochloride Natural healing pets Online dating taglines examples Pic crazy female doctors How cancer man likes to be seduced Phoenix trade richardson Funny birthday rapunny birthday rap Simcity 4 deluxe cheats unlimited cash Native american tattoos Stability ativan drip Renewable energy slogans X ray tech resume examples Visible thong lines under clothes Facebook james providakes Ay comic blogspot Ritalin la coupons Dissertation acknowledgement page Family vacation t shirt slogans Middle school career exploration worksheets Bachelor of science diploma template At&t tracking ebay iphone Magna glacier point rear wheel Mcgraw hill connect finance answer key Clothes torn right off Cole and dylan sprouse drunk Dancing bear long movies Lazarus long birthdays quotations Minneapolis hi fi Jerk off to mom Embroidery floss bracelets with letters Dodd-frank mortgage modification Oxycodone with hydrocodone interactions Free sermons of gilbert earl patterson Ilocano quotes funnny Department of defense surplus Horny famous cameltoe Family feud powerpoint Best quotes on being better off without a loser Old style patrol boxes Mon helps son jerk off Free ambigram tattoo generator Nike youth basketball shoes Myspace needle cursors Adding two-digit numbers Nrp test answers College dropout album zip Navman icn 520 upgrades Orthopod ortho pod back inversion Lipitor and congestive heart failure Generic clonazepam strength Graal era fast money Kitchen sink cutting boards Trazodone and bipolar Dogs knots stuck in w C o d phentermine buy on-line Suntrust gift cards Mga halimbawa ng mitolohiya Nursing diagnosis list elsevier Build your own bmx track Beastyality, girls and horses 5th grade context clues worksheets Jack off encouragement quickj Adderall makes my vagina smell Funny get well quotes after surgery Lisa kelly married Bohr diagram worksheets and answers Julie buckfield twitters Money origami president face Ashford university student login in Devil rejects soundboard Bad girls club uncut tube Beth chapman worth Slave s journey to mistress Swollen ankles from drinking alcohol Watson 540 get you high Evil operator iphone download Antarwasna hindi story with figure Tnew vlad model tanya pics Alternatives to amitriptyline Asa prepware 2010 download Free flute music for my heart will go on Marching band plumes Free verizon airtime codes Being bitchy for no reason Puedo tomar paracetamol y valiumuedo tomar paracetamol y valium Free printable verb cards Imvu page codes Dog the bounty hunter wife beth naked Bear ascii one line Quotes on moving on from a miscarriage Photographs of female development Can i take diclofenac with percocet Opium war acrostic Salary of a canadian police officer Ati exams pediatric 2012 Nixon state of the union 1971 Cool friendship bracelet pattern instructions Airbus industrie a343 jet Cotton print factory glasgow opening timesotton print factory Testicle massage therapy video Catrionna name tattoos Is there imvu credit hack with no survey Follando a mamam Address of magipara in dhaka Tnims is 800b test answers Sample letter of tax abatement Best horse pictures Pictures of bambi blaze How to freebase adderall ir Back pain in early pregnancy Pnc bank payoff number Wake county mugshots nc Forced sissy caption Mariposa rehab san jose Wendy puyat birthday Fondling on public transportation in india video Rain drop picture printable Diaper hypnosis movie Free social security card pfd templets Drake bell penis pics Kunci guitar guardian angel cinta laura How much are medicali bongs Independent reading log middle school Fall pictionary wordsall pictionary words Happy birthday with keyboard characters Job cost tracking spreadsheet High school election campaign ideas Ambigram tattoos generator Family video aptitude testamily video ap Dune buggy outer banks 1st anniversary gift for husband Best tattoos insulting exes Ghetto gaggers full free streaming Lesson plans for forklift trucks Bizarro herbal incense buy in stores Campus glory holes Tvisio plumbing fittings Car sale authorization letter Mondo generator cocaine rodeo Brutus hack facebook Mom teaches son jerkoff Multiplying out brackets calculator online Free downloadable videos of beth smith chapman Military housing oahu My neck hurts Sermons for nursing homes Horseshoe pit planss Bloons tower defense 2 hacked arcadeprehacks Does adderall and sudafed show up the same thing on a drug test Masonry barbecues plans Patches mood swings First decision marketing inc phentermine Collage scholarships for 2013 2014
留言列表
