Outgoing CIA head confirms Obama backing down on torture

Hayden

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
On January 15, I suggested that, after nominating Panetta, incoming US President Barack Obama was slowly backing away from his dispute with the CIA leadership. This interpretation has now been publicly confirmed by no other than departing CIA Director, Michael V. Hayden. Speaking to journalists about his imminent departure from the Agency, Hayden made sure to let them know that Mr. Obama privately assured him “he has no plans to launch a legal inquiry” into the CIA’s use of controversial interrogation methods in the “war on terrorism”. He also stated that the President Elect offered similar guarantees to Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnel, during a secret meeting in Chicago in December 2008. It appears, then, that the political threats aired in the press by anonymous intelligence officials a week ago achieved their purpose of shielding the agency from legislative supervision. Additionally, by revealing Mr. Obama’s private assurances about CIA’s culpability in potentially illegal interrogation methods, Director Hayden is holding the incoming President publicly accountable to his private promise. He is thus motioning CIA insiders to carefully monitor the new Administration’s moves regarding the Agency’s past sins. On January 12, an article in The New York Times warned Mr. Obama that “many [CIA] officers flatly oppose any further review [of controversial interrogation methods] and may protest the prospect of a broad inquiry into their past conduct”. It now looks like the message has been duly noted by the Obama team.