Feinstein: Holder should have waited

[Becky72]

Source: Politico

August 30, 2009

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif..), the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticized Attorney General Eric Holder on Sunday for moving ahead with an investigation into harsh CIA interrogation techniques.

“Candidly, I wish the attorney general had waited,” Feinstein said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”. “Every day something kind of dribbles out into the public arena. Very often it has mistakes, very often it’s half a story. I think we need to get the whole story together and tell it in an appropriate way.”

Feinstein said that her committee was in the midst of taking a “total look” at the intelligence agency’s interrogation and detention practices.

“We’re well along in that study,” she said. “And I’m trying to push it along even more quickly.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/0809/Feinstein_Holder_Should_Have_Waited.html?showall

---

And I think Feinstein should mind her own business and let a member of another branch do his job. She should follow Obama's lead and not interfere with another official's decisions.

[IndianaGreen]

1. Another of the appeasers in the Senate

DiFi opposed impeachment!

[Bette Noir]

42. She also opposes the public option.

[IndianaGreen]

43. She is very rich, and she is not a Kennedy

so all she cares about is her own investment portfolio, and her husband's.

[saigon68]

61. Another DLC corporate Prostitute

Paul Wellstone we miss you

[Dinger]

77. Sounds Like A Shout Out To Swamp Rat

I miss Paul Wellstone too.:-(

[tiny elvis]

62. yes but

the problem is not in individual personalities
it is in campaign finance

[robinlynne]

45. and supported the patriot act, the war....

[IndianaGreen]

46. and to think we lost Milk and Moscone for DiFi to advance politically

How cruel have the fates been to our nation!

[bobshin]

53. Those losses make DiFi's actions since even more despicable.

She acted like a robot announcing those deaths to the public. She is not human.

[UpInArms]

2. and I think Feinstein should be for upholding the Constitution instead

of kissing *'s ass.

[w4rma]

3. If it were up to her there would be no investigation. (nt)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

4. California: Should have passed

[EFerrari]

6. Our elections are bought and sold. n/t

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

31. She's on your turf...take care of it, damnit!

Bring back Deukmejian!!! (kidding)

Is Jerry Brown doing anything?

[EFerrari]

33. He will most likely be the Dem nom for governor. n/t

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

35. Newsom?

[EFerrari]

37. Brown. Newsom isn't polling very well, last time I checked.

He isn't loved here except for the marriages.

[NBachers]

67. Newsom ain't goin' that far

[movonne]

5. Maybe she is worried about her own skin....

[calimary]

19. I believe she is indeed one of those who got a private look at "the rest" of the Abu Ghraib photos

as the then-ranking member of the Senate Intel committee. I remember reading something about that - in which those allowed to see the other photos that haven't been released were seen leaving the room with looks of horror and shock on their faces.

She SHOULD be worried.

She is an enabler. And a cover-up weasel. I don't care if she was sworn to secrecy. THESE ARE WAR CRIMES. There HAD to be some way to leak the word out. THESE ARE FRICKIN' WAR CRIMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate that woman. I wish she weren't our Senator. At least we have Barbara Boxer, but feinstein is utterly useless. I'm surprised she stays a Dem.

[bvar22]

56. That was the Senate Armed Services Committee....

A whole bunch of Democrats sat on the Senate Armed Services Committee Investigation of the abuses at Abu Ghraib in 2004.
They were shown classified photos and videos of murder, rape, and other torture.
They KNEW for a FACT that Torture, Murder, Rape, and other War Crimes were systemic,....and yet kept their mouths shut, and (for the most part) remained supportive of the WARS.

These are the Democrats who sat on the Senate Armed Services Committee Investigation, and are complicit by turning a blind eye:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.)

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) Ranking Member

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)

Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.)

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.)

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.)

Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii)

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.)

Sen. Mark Dayton (D-Minn.)

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.)

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.)

[No Elephants]

72. Kennedy is the only one who surprises me.

[ixion]

7. Feinstein is a war crimes enabler

IMO.

[frebrd]

8. "I think we need to get the whole story together and tell it in an appropriate way."

Translation:

"I think we need to get the whole story together and spin it in a way that doesn't compromise anyone's fundraising prospects."

[bread_and_roses]

16. Got that in one (n/t)

[tomm2thumbs]

17. +1

[Buzz Clik]

9. This is cut and dried. I have no idea what terrifies Feinstein about this.

[rhett o rick]

30. Sen Feinstein is dragging her feet because she doesnt want to upset CorpAmerica, the true rulers of

America. bush*/cheney did the dirty work for them and they dont want them punished. It might scare Rahm Emanuel.

[Bette Noir]

44. She doesn't like anyone doing anything without her express permission.

Remember how upset she was that Obama appointed his Cabinet without getting her approval first?

[No Elephants]

74. Reply # 19 tells why Feinstein is terrified. Close to the same reason Cheney and Bush have to be

terrified.

[blm]

10. Kerry spoke supportively of Holder's investigations today. Feinstein HAD to open her mouth

and gum up the focus on Bush-Cheney's lawlessness, yet again, letting the media keep Dems at odds.

[BlueFRanco]

11. Hey DiFi you pathetic warmongering DINO please switch parties

Harvey Milk was right about her, she is a thug and crook.

[diva77]

22. wow, do you have a link to Harvey Milk discussing difi?

[BlueFRanco]

25. It was discussed in a documentary

on the Logo channel ...I saw it about 6 months ago. Right before Milk was killed he was going to challenge DiFi because he felt she was a dishonest hack. Now we know Harvey Milk was spot on .

[Piewhacket]

12. California Bay Res: No confidence in D Feinstein.

Here Feinstein is blatantly calling for
fabricating a cover story for her sorry-assed
support of telecom immunit, the patriot act,
the so called 'war on terror', and culpable
participation in providing personal and politial
support for war crimes including torture of prisoners...

make your own list. the point is, she is a clueless piece of work.
which her comments quoted here once again prove.

I'm a Cal voter, and if I get a realistic chance to dump her,
it will be in a bleeping heartbeat.

[bread_and_roses]

15. Alas, you won't get that chance until and unless we have public funding for elections

which the entrenched will never support.

[GreenArrow]

50. "clueless"

Oh, she's clued in, alright. She knows exactly what she's doing. She's among the worst that either party has to offer.

[Piewhacket]

54. well, I doubt she knows just how pissed I am at her shit,

how TRANSPARENT she has made herself during the last 4 years,
or how many others just like me there are...

She has alienated her supporters. Its time for her to go.
Personally, I think she is planning her exit, one step ahead
of the 'tar and feathers'.

[Amos Moses]

13. California has to have better people to vote for than this

war profiteering, Neoliberal piece of shit.

[Le Taz Hot]

71. We did and we do.

Unfortunately, the DEMOCRATIC PARTY ensures any potential challengers are squashed before their campaigns can get off the ground. It's the way it's done in party politics. Pretty, ain't it? The good news is that she will be 79 when her term ends (2012) and I doubt she'll run for re-election. Fear not, Rahm will find another willing tool (there are lots of them) to do his corporatist bidding.

[LibDemAlways]

14. DINO Feinstein keeps getting re-elected based

on name recognition and lack of a serious progressive challenger with the $$ to conduct an effective campaign. She's utterly useless.

[tomm2thumbs]

18. Instead of Governor, Gavin Newsom should go after Feedle-Di's seat

she has become an overt corporate play toy for the big dogs

[clixtox]

64. Gavin is not likely to be much of an improvement over DiFi.

Gavin is not very intelligent and is certainly not a natural leader.

His boyish appearance and hob-nobbing with the rich and socially elite have taken him about as far as he is likely to go.

Gavin's moral compass is twisted and twirling.

I hope his political career is drawing to a close very soon.

Matt Gonzalez, on the other hand, has a bright future, IMHO. I wish he had won the mayoral election instead of Newsom.

[jannyk]

68. +1

[BlueMTexpat]

20. It's time for DiFi to go.

Please CA ... I KNOW that you have better and certainly more progressive alternatives in the state. I'll contribute generously to a decent challenger and I know that I am not alone.

[Wilms]

21. Who votes for her?

And why?

[Cartoonist]

34. The Party votes for her

The citizens only get to vote after the Dem Party decides who their candidates will be. DiFi is granted immunity in that no one is allowed to run against her in the primaries.

[No Elephants]

73. Have you tried joining the state Democratic Party?

[Le Taz Hot]

75. I have and was even a member of the E-board

and the poster is ABSOLUTELY correct. The party DOES quash any challengers. If you have any doubt, just see what they did (and continue to do) to Howard Dean. I saw that one up close and personal and it was like watching sausage being made. When Kerry was "nominated" with virtually no grass-roots support in California, I went down to the elections office and changed my party affiliation to DTS (Decline to State). And just in case anyone thinks the party knows best, remember, John Kerry managed to lose to the worst president in history. (Yes, they cheated but it should have never been close).

[No Elephants]

76. Thank you for the information. I wonder what would happen if more people

like you had joined the the Party.

Or, if we complain.

Or maybe third party is the only hope anymore.

[JDPriestly]

23. Wish I could trust Feinstein, but I just can't.

On the other hand, she may be right. The Holder announcement may be a way to prevent Feinstein's committee from pursuing evidence that the administration regardless of whether Bush's or Obama's does not want to have aired. Holder may be moving fast in order to prevent the public from getting certain very troubling information. We cannot really know who to trust here.

[GreenArrow]

51. It's possible to trust niether. n/t

.

[Zorra]

24. Makes me wonder what she's covering up. n/t

[tomm2thumbs]

39. +1

[flyarm]

26. Hey lady you had plenty of time to do investigative work..work you are paid

to do in our behalf..in fact it is your duty to do on our behalf..anf you didn't do your job..and you didn't uphold your oath to me or any American to protect our constitution..now do what your bo bo told us to do..( good ole rahm) sit down and STFU!

I want every single person responsible for breaking my laws as an American that tortured and did it in my name behind bars forever..I want every freaking one of the SOB's in prison for life! Or as long as they can legally be held. And if anyone obstructs our rule of law being upheld , i want their asses in jail as well!

Got that Feinstein????????? now get the fuck out of the way..you had your opportunity and you did nothing.

The powder is too damn dry! and the lies too many!!!!!!!!

enough!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2009/8/29/23471/7768

Two Syrian Detainees at Guantanamo Freed in Portugal
By Jeralyn, Section Terror Detainees
Posted on Sun Aug 30, 2009 at 07:02:00 AM EST
Tags: Guantanamo (all tags) Share This: Digg!
Two Syrian detainees at Guantanamo have arrived in Portugal and are now free.

The U.S. has not released their names. In June, a federal judge ordered the release of Syrian detainee Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak al-Janko. The court's opinion is here (pdf.)

Al-Janko was first captured by al-Qaeda who tortured him, causing him to falsely confess he was an American spy. Then he was imprisoned by the Taliban who thought he really was an American spy. The Taliban abandoned the prison where al-Janko was being held but left him there. The Americans found him, imprisoned him in Kandahar and sent him to Guantanamo where he has remained for 7 years. Hopefully, he's one of those released to Portugal and freed.

[Hissyspit]

27. With all due respect, honorable Senator...

Shut the fuck up.

[formercia]

28. The Lady doth protest too much, methinks.

W.S.

[dbonds]

29. We have to wait till the statute of limitations run out on her involvement.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

32. Indeed.

:thumbsup:

[Lagomorph]

36. Yup, she needs to Vet the info

and get her name redacted.

[northernlights]

38. what are you hiding, Di?

Here's an idea. Why don't you STFU. x(

[Bluenorthwest]

40. DiFi is the only Democrat I have actually voted against

I voted for the Greens over DiFi, because Diane is as Harvey said she was, and just listen to her here, saying 'we need to get our story straight and spun'. She is disgusting in every possible way. I have voted for DiFi, but that came to and end long ago for me and mine. I do not vote for Republicans.

[Bette Noir]

41. The worst part? She has three years left in her term.

[Demeter]

47. Waited For What? The Rapture?

Justice delayed is JUSTICE DENIED!

Why is this woman still in any public office?

[diane in sf]

52. Maybe Godot...

[GreenArrow]

48. A hog at the trough

and neck deep in shit.

[droidamus2]

49. When I hear that

What I think is that they aren't so much investigating as trying to see how much they think they can get away with hiding. No branch of or agency within the government should be above the law or being investigated. Screw the 'its national security' line that is just another way of saying 'we don't want to tell you cause it might make us look bad'.

[fujiyama]

55. One of the worst Dem Senators

She strikes me as a terrible person. Opportunistic, nasty, and very, very greedy. And it seems that way from the start of her career.

I hope she retires soon. I think the state has had enough of this war profiteering woman.

[Octafish]

57. War Profiteer

http://www.antiwar.com/frank/?articleid=8609

[hyphenate]

58. How long does the senior senator

from California expect Mr. Holder to wait? Until she and Nancy Pelosi have been out of Congress for a couple of years? Perhaps until Dickhead Cheney has told them it's okay to move forward?

It's no longer a matter of right or wrong, it's now a matter of how much power Cheney still has in the country. He needs to be in jail, and not having his ass kissed by so many who are supposed to be Democrats and liberal.

[Individualist]

59. She's a DLC member

"The Democratic Leadership Council's agenda is indistinguishable from the Republican Neoconservative agenda," - Dennis Kucinich

[THale2]

60. Why are Dem's so Fearful

Of Republicans...Do you see someone within the republican party speaking out against a person appointed by their leader saying hey...hold off we need to be conciliatory toward the Dem's

[OwnedByFerrets]

63. She is a huge waste of a good "D"

[BeyondGeography]

65. California deserves better

and so do the rest of us.

[D23MIURG23]

66. If it were up to Feinstein we would wait indefinitely. n/t

[Vidar]

69. But she needs more time to clean the dirty laundry.

[endarkenment]

70. The spokesperson for the Corporate Powder Drying Wing. nt

[ellie]

78. Who keeps voting

for this useless waste of skin? I don't care if she calls herself a Democrat. She isn't a Democrat.

[No Elephants]

79. Any member of that committee doing the investigation is a joke. Not a funny one, though.

[rschop]

80. Feinstein and the attacks on 9/11

What about looking into the fact that the CIA working with FBI HQ agents intentionally and deliberately had allowed the al Qaeda terrorists to carry out the attacks on 9/11.

What is even more horrific is Feinstein was at the September 20, 2002 Joint Inquiry public hearings, when FBI Agent Steve Bongardt, called the FBI agent at the hearings and hidden behind a curtain to hide his identity, said that "the wall" should never have allowed people at the CIA and FBI HQ, FBI Agent Dina Corsi and CIA officer Clarke Shannon, and CIA officer Tom Wilshire, from withholding the information on Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi from him and his team of Cole bombing investigators. When Mihdhar and Hazmi were found to be inside of the US, and Corsi and Wilshire, and even the entire hierarchy of the CIA knew these long time al Qaeda terrorists were in the US only in order to take part in a massive al Qaeda attack that would kill thousands of Americans

At the June 11, 2001 meeting in the New York FBI field office between the CIA, FBI HQ and the Cole bombing investigators, Corsi had presented 3 photos of Mihdhar and Hazmi, to Bongardt and his team, that she had obtained from CIA officer Tom Wilshire. These were the three photos of Mihdhar and Hazmi taken of them at the Kuala Lumpur al Qaeda planning meeting, actually planning the Cole bombing with Walid Bin Attash, who was already known to be the mastermind of the Cole bombing at the time of this meeting.

When CIA officer Clark Shannon asked FBI Agent Steve Bongardt, who was in charge at the FBI New York office and a team of FBI investigators on the Cole bombing, if the FBI Cole investigators recognized anyone in these photos, Bongardt answered with the following other questions;

Who are these people?

And why are you asking us? ( since you are asking us and we are the Cole bombing investigators)?

And what do these people have to do with the Cole bombing.

At the time of this meeting Wilshire, Corsi, and Shannon all knew that Mihdhar and Hazmi, the very people in these photos had been at the Kuala Lumpur meeting with Bin Attash actually planning the Cole bombing, and yet all said they could not tell the FBI investigators on the Cole bombing because of "the wall".

But the wall never protected anyone who had actually committed a crime, just information on people where no evidence yet existed that a crime had been committed.

Since the CIA and everyone at this meeting and Tom Wilshire who actually set up this meeting already knew a crime had been committed, the planning of the Cole bombing that had killed 17 US sailors, there was no bases at all any longer for withholding this information based on the concept of “the wall”.

Since the only people in the photos at the June 11, 2001 meeting were Mihdhar and Hazmi, and since this meeting had been set up by the CIA, it is clear the only reason this meeting had been set up was to find out if the FBI criminal investigators on the Cole bombing somehow had found out about the meeting at Kuala Lumpur and the fact that Mihdhar and Hazmi had been at that meeting planning the Cole bombing with Walid Bin Attash, in their search for Bin Attash.

Wilshire, who was also actually at the September 20, 2001 public hearings, he was the CIA officer behind the blind identified at "the CIA officer", actually admits at these hearings, that he set up this meeting in New York. Wilshire, Shannon and even Corsi were also aware that Mihdhar had a multi-entry visa for the US, and that both Mihdhar and Hazmi had been involved in the east Africa bombings that had killed over 200 people.

Both Wilshire and Shannon knew that Hazmi also had a visa for the US and knew that Hazmi in fact had already entered the US in order to carry out yet another al Qaeda terrorist attack.

Yet all of these people told Bongardt that "the wall" prevented them from giving any information on the identity of the people in the photos to the FBI criminal investigators, in spite of the fact that all of these agent already knew that both Mihdhar and Hazmi are long time al Qaeda terrorists who have already taken part in multiple criminal activities that had killed many Americans.

On August 22, 2001 when it was known that Mihdhar and Hazmi were inside of the US and this information was given to both FBI Agent Dina Corsi and CIA officer Tom Wilshire, and we now know that both knew that Mihdhar and Hazmi were inside of the US in order to carry out a horrific al Qaeda terrorist attack, they both worked together to shut down FBI Agent Steve Bongardt’s investigation of Mihdhar, knowing that as a direct result of their actions thousands of Americans were going perish in the al Qaeda attacks they were warned were just about to take place inside of the US.

Feinstein, was at the September 20, 2002 Joint Inquiry public hearings and clearly heard FBI Agent Steve Bongardt say that there was absolutely no way “the wall” should have allowed the CIA and FBI HQ to hide from him and his Cole bombing investigators, the information on Mihdhar and Hazmi, an act that cost the lives of almost 3000 people on 9/11.

By not having Bongardt’s statement that "the wall" should never have allowed this information to be withheld from his criminal investigation, Feinstein let all of these people, which had to include the CIA with Wilshire, and Shannon, and perhaps the entire hierarchy of the CIA and the FBI HQ with FBI Agent Dina Corsi, who had intentionally allowed the attacks on 9/11 to take place off of the hook.

What does this mean?

It means that Feinstein who did absolutely nothing to insure any credible investigation of Bongardt’s statement, has the blood of the 3000 killed on 9/11 on her hands!

[rschop]

84. K&R

[harun]

81. She's Democrats version of Dick Cheney.

[DebbieCDC]

82. Wait for what? For how much longer?

Jeebus, California, will you guys get rid of her?

[The Stranger]

83. Fuck you, DiFi. We waited long enough for you.

Go enjoy your war profits.