The LA Times reported on Sunday that "U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. is poised to appoint a criminal prosecutor to investigate alleged CIA abuses committed during the interrogation of terrorism suspects."
Andy McCarthy argues that Holder should drop the investigation. Joe Lieberman also called on the president to call off Holder. Read Lieberman's full statement after the jump.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) today submitted the following statement into the Congressional record urging the U.S. Attorney General against investigations into the CIA and the intelligence community:
Mr. President,
It has now been nearly eight years since our country was attacked on September 11, 2001, as 19 al-Qaeda members hijacked four jet airplanes and crashed three of them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The passengers on the fourth plane, Flight 93, learned of the other attacks, fought back against the hijackers, and heroically gave their lives to prevent that plane from reaching its target in Washington, DC. That target was probably this very building - the U.S. Capitol.
In the last eight years, our homeland has not been attacked again. The reasons for this are many. We created a Department of Homeland Security and we adopted reforms in our intelligence community recommended by the 9/11 Commission. We are now consistently connecting the intelligence dots that were not connected before 9/11. We have denied safe haven to terrorist organizations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries around the world. And we have worked with our allies to prevent terrorist groups from gaining access to nuclear and radiological materials and to combat terrorist financing.
One of the most important reasons why we have not been attacked again in the last eight years is the tireless work of the men and women who serve in our intelligence agencies. While the attacks of 9/11 have receded into the memory of many Americans, I can assure you that is not the case for the intelligence community. They know that the threat of terrorism has not diminished, and are working each day to detect and disrupt terrorist plots targeting America and our allies.
They know that the threats we face are ones that could imperil the lives of countless Americans. Just last year, the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction determined that it is "more likely than not" that a nuclear or biological weapon of mass destruction will be used against the United States in a terrorist attack within the next five years. Should a nuclear device detonate in an American city, it could instantly kill hundreds of thousands of people and render the city uninhabitable for years. This is a devastating possibility that America faces every day and agents are working to prevent every second of every day.
For all of these reasons, I believe we have a responsibility to give our intelligence agencies and agents the resources and tools they need, as well as the respect and appreciation they have earned.
What we should not do is go backwards by investigating intelligence officials who served us on the front lines of this ongoing war on terrorism and acted within legal guidance they were given.
Attorney General Holder is still considering an investigation into CIA interrogators and contract employees. I fear that such an investigation could very well foster a climate of political recriminations and sap the morale of the intelligence community. Those near certain results would no doubt leave our country less safe.
President Obama had it right when he said that with regard to past behavior by the intelligence community, he is "more interested in looking forward than...looking backward." Given the threats that we face as a nation, it is imperative that we follow the President's lead.
With regard to the treatment of detainees now in U.S. custody, the President has been clear. The executive order he signed on January 22 of this past year requires that all detainees in U.S. custody "shall in all circumstances be treated humanely and shall not be subjected to violence to life and person" and that all interrogations carried out by the U.S. Government, whether by the military, the CIA, the FBI or any other government entity, shall comply with the Army Field Manual. The President's executive order is consistent with the Detainee Treatment Act as well as the Convention Against Torture and Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. Given that such policy changes have already been made, I can see no benefit from new investigations of intelligence officials, especially those who were doing what they thought was appropriate and necessary to keep us safe.
The 9/11 Commission did a positive and constructive investigation of past events that needed to be understood so that we did not repeat the mistakes that made that horrific day possible. The Commission investigated the activities of agencies such as the CIA and FBI in the years and months prior to the attacks of 9/11, and was unsparing in pointing out where those agencies had missed opportunities to disrupt the plot. As a result of the Commission's recommendations, we established the Director of National Intelligence and the National Counterterrorism Center, improved sharing of intelligence information, and strengthened our watchlisting and visa issuance systems. All of these initiatives make the United States safer today against the threat of terrorism.
A new investigation of interrogation procedures used on al-Qaeda detainees would have no such benefits given that these procedures have now been changed. But an investigation into past practices could cause great harm.
An investigation could ruin careers of men and women who have sacrificed so much on our behalf and would have a chilling effect on intelligence efforts moving forward. The overhanging threat of investigations will force those in the intelligence services to be risk averse, which in turn would make us all less secure. In the war against an enemy that does not wear a uniform, that ruthlessly kills innocent civilians, that then hides among those very same civilians, and that uses our own freedoms to undermine and attack us, tough decisions under great pressure - life and death decisions - must be made by those whose job it is to protect our security and our freedom.
As CIA Director Leon Panetta recently wrote in the Washington Post, "the time has come for both Democrats and Republicans to take a deep breath and recognize the reality of what happened after September 11, 2001. The question is not the sincerity or the patriotism of those who were dealing with the aftermath of September 11. The country was frightened, and political leaders were trying to respond as best they could. Judgments were made. Some of them were wrong. But that should not taint those public servants who did their duty pursuant to the legal guidance provided."
As I said at the beginning, we must not take for granted the important fact that we have not been attacked on our homeland since September 11, 2001. That fact is not an accident nor is it just a product of good luck. It is mostly the result of the ceaseless efforts to protect our country by the brave men and women in our military, by all who work for civilian agencies involved in homeland security and counterterrorism, and last but not least, by the intelligence community. Those men and women are, as CIA Director Panetta pointed out, "truly America's first line of defense."
Mr. President, I urge the attorney general not to go forward with the investigations being debated now. The collateral damage to America's intelligence community could be severe and that is something no American should want.
