Imprisoned CIA whistleblower, John Kiriakou: "Everyone is corrupt I’ve come to learn"

[MNBrewer]

http://www.salon.com/2013/07/11/%E2%80%9Ceveryone_is_corrupt_ive_come_to_learn%E2%80%9D/

John Kiriakou, the former CIA officer who blew the whistle on Bush’s torture program and is now in prison, sent an open letter to Edward Snowden last week warning him not to trust the FBI.

“DO NOT,” Kiriakou wrote, “under any circumstances, cooperate with the FBI. FBI agents will lie, trick, and deceive you. They will twist your words and play on your patriotism to entrap you. They will pretend to be people they are not – supporters, well-wishers, and friends – all the while wearing wires to record your out-of-context statements to use against you. The FBI is the enemy; it’s part of the problem, not the solution.”

These are the words of a registered Republican who voted for Gary Johnson, who the Rosenberg Fund for Children denied a grant, informing him that he wasn’t “liberal enough,” Kiriakou says, for the award — and who last year received a birthday card from Jerry Falwell Jr.

Kiriakou is the first CIA veteran to be imprisoned. It was after he blew the whistle on Bush’s torture program that the CIA, FBI, and Justice Department came down on him, at first charging him with aiding the enemy and later convicting him of disclosing the identities of undercover colleagues at the CIA.

[WillyT]

1. K & R !!!

[Baitball Blogger]

2. No, John. Not everyone.

Some of us remain victims because we refuse to play the game.

[byeya]

3. Not meaning to be snarky, but many of us aren't important enough to be in a position

to be corrupt.
You have to count a little, or be in the game somewhat, to get the chance to sellout.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

6. Some got in just for the cash prizes.

[byeya]

10. And the complimentary breath mints

[Baitball Blogger]

11. On the contrary. The needier you are, the more susceptible you are to corruption.

If you go looking for it, you will find it. So, that says a lot about people who remain honest, despite their modest positions.

[newfie11]

4. K&R

[ReRe]

5. K&R

[Octafish]

7. If only he'd tortured or killed somebody, he'd be in the clear.

But as he exposed the government for torture and murder, Just-Us put him in the slammer and threw away the key.

Something important Kiriakou said: Torture does work when it comes to getting confessions -- FALSE confessions, like the kind used to justify warmonger policy.

[sabrina 1]

13. He should have robbed the Treasury, there are no consequences for crimes like that in the US.

He told the truth. What a silly thing for him to do in a country where telling the truth is a crime, and lying turns Torturers and War Criminals into Elder Statesmen richly rewarded ones at that.

We are a very sick society. I don't know if there is a cure.

Another hero in jail in the Land of the Free and people wonder why Snowden was smart enough to seek asylum elsewhere.

[struggle4progress]

8. How to leak and not get caught

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101668189

[Progressive dog]

9. From wikipedia

On Monday, January 23, 2012, Kiriakou was charged with repeatedly disclosing classified information to journalists, including the name of a covert CIA officer and information revealing the role of another CIA employee, Deuce Martinez, in classified activities.[24][25][26] In addition to leaking the names and roles of CIA officers, Kiriakou was alleged to have lied to the CIA to get his book published.[27]

On October 22, 2012, Kiriakou pled guilty to disclosing classified information about a fellow CIA officer that connected the covert operative to a specific operation.

[MNBrewer]

15. I'll see your wikipedia and raise you a Democracy Now

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/30/ex_cia_agent_whistleblower_john_kiriakou

[Progressive dog]

25. He pleaded guilty, that's all we need to know

He plea bargained. He is a convicted felon.

[Blackford]

12. Didn't John Kiriakou reveal the identities of a couple fo CIA agents?

I don't much care for anybody who would reveal the identities of our CIA agents.

IIRC, John Kiriakou was convicted of revealing those agents' identities.

[MNBrewer]

16. Reporting the identity of a torturer... how do you feel about that?

[Blackford]

17. Reporting the torture: cool. Reporting the identity of a secret CIA agent you allege is torturing:

Not cool.

Report up the chain of command and let the courts settle it.

Until convicted of the crime, those CIA agents are only alleged to have committed torture are should have due process.

By revealing their identities, he crossed the line, IMO. Can't sympathize with him being convicted for it

[MNBrewer]

18. Report up the chain of command and let the courts settle it?

THat's so laughable.

[Blackford]

20. He didn't follow the protocol

I cannot sympathize with him being forced to pay the consequences of his actions. Every person is entitled to due process and he failed to allow those he alleged committed torture to have due process while protecting their identities as CIA agents until due process deemed they were no longer entitled to such protection.

He violated basic protocols. He got what he should ahve expected for his crimes.

[MNBrewer]

21. Protocol was broken

He's the only person to be jailed regarding the government's torture program, and he's the one who blew the whistle on it.

Shameful that the true criminals are being protected, while he's in jail.

[Blackford]

22. Fruit of the poisoned tree

IT should be a lesson to those who would blow the whistle. If you desire justice, follow the protocol, else what you do may result in no prosecutions for wrong doing.

He broke the law to reveal the torture. because the evidence was obtained through illegal means, it is fruit of the poisoned tree and cannot be used.

He is to blame for there being no other prosecutions.

[MNBrewer]

23. Bull. Shit.

[Blackford]

24. We can obviously have no civil discourse regarding this issue

I shall refrain from responding to you in any thread or any post on this site.

Kind regards.

[AllINeedIsCoffee]

14. ...

[Nevernose]

19. Don't trust the police? No shit

This guy obviously didn't grow up in my neighborhood. Otherwise he would have learned from a very young age not to trust the police. Not any of them, ever. The only way to be semi-safe from the police is to never, ever trust the police.

Don't talk to the police unless you're the one who called them. Don't call them unless there's a missing child or someone's getting murdered. Not might get murdered, but actively being murdered. Even then, be aware that you still can't trust them, because there is every reason to believe that if they can't find the criminal you called them about, that they will take you to jail instead.

This is my attitude, and I'm a law and order kind of guy. Hell, I've worked in the D's office and I still don't trust cops. This is the attitude of millions of law abiding Americans in whole neighborhoods in every city in America. We have this attitude for a reason.

[Bryn]

26. Are there any CIA/FBI agents

in this thread?

Just wondering ...