We've had some interesting developments in the torture tapes scandal.
Marcy Wheeler's new piece deals with the CIA's interactions with the 911 panel. The Agency's legal eagles knew that no destruction of evidence could take place while the panel did its work, so they waited until the report was issued before allowing anyone to set a match to the bonfire. On the other hand, they did not turn over the videotapes because the 9/11 commission did not specifically ask to see videotapes of prisoner interrogations. The panel asked for documents, y'see, not tapes.
These kinds of legalistic games indicate that the tapes must be even more important than the public now knows.
2 comments:
It reminds me of the game called "Battleship" I used to play as a kid. That is the kind of legal game the CIA was playing. The Commission had to guess what evidence the CIA might have first and guess correctly, before it could get at it.
A single report indicates there are more torture tapes, were not destroyed:
Congressional investigators demand additional CIA interrogation tapes
The foreign interrogation tapes sought by the Senate Intelligence Committee are different from tapes shredded by the CIA in 2005 that showed rough interrogations by American operatives, sources said Monday.
Related Document which confirms (from NYT archives):
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2007/12/11/2007-12-11_congressional_investigators_demand_addit-3.html
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