Republicans Trying To Cover For Tape Destruction

It recently became known that the CIA had destroyed some tapes they made that showed the torture of terrorist suspects. The tapes could have been an embarrassment to the Bush administration, who ordered the torture while telling the world that no torture was being done.

Now it looks like the Republicans in Congress are trying to provide some cover for Bush in the tape destruction. Yesterday, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Michigan) said of the man who ordered the destruction,Jose Rodriguez, "It appears he hadn't gotten authority from anyone. It appears he got direction to make sure the tapes were not destroyed. I believe there are parts of the intelligence community that don't believe they are accountable to Congress and may not be accountable to their own superiors in the intelligence community..."

Hoekstra made that statement after hearing testimony from John Rizzo, the general counsel for the CIA. Rizzo testified that although the CIA legal department said the destruction was legal, he and CIA director Porter Goss (pictured above) had "recommended" the tapes not be destroyed.

It looks like the Bush administration has decided to throw Rodriguez under the bus. This wouldn't be the first time they have sacrificed an underling to save higher-ups in the White House (remember Scooter Libby).

I find this very hard to believe. CIA underlings demanded a memo from the White House assuring them they had support from the "highest authority" before they would commence with the torturing. Now we're supposed to believe these same underlings would destroy evidence in direct defiance of their superiors.

If you believe that, I've got some ocean-front property in Amarillo that I'll sell real cheap.

Bush Tries To Stop Tape Investigation

It was learned recently that the CIA had destroyed some tapes. The tapes contained hours of the torture of two suspected terrorists. It's obvious that the tapes were destroyed so they wouldn't embarass the Bush administration.

But it's even worse than that. The tapes were destroyed 5 months after US District Judge Henry H. Kennedy issued an order telling the government not to destroy any evidence of the torture of terror suspects, especially those in Guantanamo.

Now, not only is Congress going to investigate the destruction of these tapes, but Judge Kennedy is considering his own investigation. Naturally, the Bush administration doesn't want either of these investigations to continue.

The Justice Department has refused to provide information, and has entered a brief in Judge Kennedy's court that says the destruction didn't involve a violation of his court order. Their justification is that the torture didn't take place at Guantanamo. They say the torture happened at a secret location (think rendition) and the two were transferred to Guantanamo after the torture had been completed.

Sounds to me like they're splitting some hairs to try and stay out of trouble. I think the judge, as well as Congress, has every right to investigate the destruction of the tapes. Both entities should issue contempt citations if the administration continues to refuse to provide information.

The Bush administration would like everyone to let the Justice Department do the only investigation. That might be OK if we actually had an independent Justice Department staffed with non-partisan professionals -- but we don't. What we have is a department staffed with Bush loyalists and led by an attorney general who can't figure out whether waterboarding is torture or not.

So basically, the Bush administration wants to be in charge of investigating themselves. That's like putting the fox in charge of henhouse security precautions. Is there anybody left in America that thinks that would be a full and impartial investigation?

After all the failures and lies of the Bush administration, there is no way they can be trusted to investigate themselves.

Perino Ordered To Keep Quiet About CIA Tapes

Back in 2005, two tapes were destroyed that showed CIA interrogators using "enhanced interrogation tactics" (torture) on suspected terrorists. Recently, this became public knowledge, and many in both parties would like to know why the tapes were destroyed.

Republican John McCain said of the tapes' destruction, "The actions, I think, were absolutely wrong. There will be skepticism and cynicism all over the world about how we treat prisoners and whether we practice torture or not." Republican Mike Huckabee was even clearer, saying the tapes were destroyed "to cover somebody's rear end."

The CIA says the tapes were destroyed to protect the identity of the CIA interrogators. But if these identities were so secret, why were the tapes made in the first place? It seems like an incredibly dumb thing to do.

It seems far more likely that the tapes were destroyed to protect the Bush administration. That was a time when the administration was trying to deny that they were using torture against terror suspects. The tapes would have shown conclusively that the administration was lying.

Democrats are demanding an investigation into the destruction of the tapes. What is the response of the Bush administration? It looks like they're going to try and stonewall this one. Dana Perino, Bush's press secretary, has been ordered not to answer any questions on the subject.

This is a pretty common action of this administration. When lying about a matter no longer works, they resort to "faulty memory" or stonewalling tactics. After the embarrassment of Alberto Gonzales' incredibly faulty memory, it looks like they've chosen the stonewalling option this time.

I think they'd be better off just admitting they were wrong and screwed up, but telling the truth is not something this administration is capable of -- even when it's the best option.