Bush: I Didn't Know About CIA Tape Destruction

[babylonsister]

Bush: I Didn't Know About CIA Tape Destruction


December 11, 2007 11:48 AM

ABC News' Martha Raddatz Reports: In an exclusive interview with ABC News President Bush said Tuesday he did not know about the destruction of CIA videotapes of detainee interrogations.

The President said he was told just a few days ago.

"My first recollection of whether the tapes existed or whether they were destroyed was when {CIA Director} Michael Hayden briefed me," Bush said.

"There's a preliminary inquiry going on and I think you'll find that a lot more data, facts will be coming out," he said, "that's good. It will be interesting to know what the true facts are."

The President made the remarks to ABC News as part of a day-in-the-life series ABC News' White House correspondent Martha Raddatz is shooting with the President.

more...

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/12/bush-i-didnt-kn.html

[maddezmom]

1. BULLSHIT BUSH

just like you didn't know Rove, Libby and Cheney leaked Valerie Plame's name.

[bdamomma]

21. and would give the leaker of the Plame ousting a free ride out of jail

these thugs really insult my intelligence.

[flakey_foont]

2. is there any reason at all

to believe this serial, pathological 'LIAR"?

geez, if Prezbush said the sky was blue, I think I would have to look out the window just to see for myself

[L. Coyote]

3. BUSH: ‘Haven’t Seen It; We Don’t Torture’ (And, I decide what torture is, hee, hee.)

‘Haven’t Seen It; We Don’t Torture’
BY Scott Horton - August 9, 2007 - http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/08/hbc-90000815


President Bush is the most enthusiastic vacationer of any American president. He has racked up some 430 vacation days since coming to office. And today he starts his five-week summer vacation for 2007. But wait, we’re not supposed to call it a “vacation.” The Bush minders are very particular about that.

Perhaps to keep people off the vacation, Bush gave a press conference .... there was, from my perspective, one compelling question put to him, and one answer. The question was premised on Jane Mayer’s authoritative report on the current CIA torture program published in the current New Yorker. Here it is:

"One of the sources said that the Red Cross described the agency’s detention and interrogation methods as tantamount to torture, and declared that American officials responsible for the abusive treatment could have committed serious crimes. The source said the report warned that these officials may have committed “grave breaches” of the Geneva Conventions, and may have violated the U.S. Torture Act, which Congress passed in 1994. The conclusions of the Red Cross, which is known for its credibility and caution, could have potentially devastating legal ramifications."

And here’s the totality of the Bush answer:

Haven’t seen it; we don’t torture.

Just a few of the things we don’t do. Except that they have been repeatedly documented in Bagram, Abu Ghraib, Camp Cropper, Guantanamo and other facilities run by the CIA around the world. And they have apparently been approved by a recent Executive Order issued by George Bush.

...............

[bdamomma]

22. excuse me but the whole world knows we torture.

stupid *.

[L. Coyote]

24. CIA Tape Scandal: News Outlets Struggle With Word 'Torture'

Do a Google search for 'CIA torture tapes,' and check out the headlines in the foreign press.
Compare that to the propaganda in the USA! = http://news.google.com/news?q=CIA+torture+tapes

==============
CIA Tape Scandal: News Outlets Struggle With Word 'Torture'
By Greg Mitchell - Dec 08, 2007 - http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003682997


NEW YORK As the protests surrounding revelations that the CIA had destroyed tapes that showed brutal interrogations by its agents, most new outlets refused to brand what the tapes likely showed as "torture."

One Associated Press article referred simply to "interrogation" on the tapes, at one point putting "enhanced interrogation" in quotes. Another AP article called it "harsh interrogation."

Mark Mazzeti in The New York Times used "severe interrogation methods." Eric Lichtblau in the same paper chose the same phrase. David Johnston, in a Saturday article for paper's Web site, referred to "aggressive interrogations" and "coercive techniques." Reuters, in its lead, relied on "severe interrogation techniques."

Dan Eggen and Joby Warrick in The Washington Post on Saturday opted for "harsh interrogation tactics." They mentioned one detainee having been "identified by intelligence officials as one of three detainees subjected to waterboarding," which they refer to not as torture but as "an aggressive interrogation technique that simulates drowning."

...........

[TwilightGardener]

4. HUH? Did he know the tapes existed, or not? Did he know what

was on them? Torture was illegal in 2002, wasn't it? No "memos" or signing statements yet, right?

[fishnfla]

5. Yet he assures us that our country does not torture

as far as he knows, that is

[Buzz Clik]

10. He assures us the torture is against US law, and we do not violate US law.

But he never allows himself to be trapped into defining torture. He's been well schooled.

[City Lights]

LIAR!

Don't look now George, but your pants are engulfed in flames.

:grr:

[Solly Mack]

6. His 'first' recollection? Does he even know what the word means?

What it implies in his statement?

[Buzz Clik]

7. Plausible deniability. Guaranteed, he's untouchable.

[L. Coyote]

25. Conspiracy is in the works on this particular scandal. The whole house of cards goes down.

This was the problem when these secret government cowboys pulled off the criminality of Iran-Contra.
They just lied to protect Reagan and Bush. That problem can be overcome by proving a conspiracy.

[marmar]

8. I did not have have observational relations with those tapes......

La mierda del toro.

[L. Coyote]

26. Actually, Bush and Cheney may have watched the video feed in real time and participated.

Real time feed to commanders would explain why they initiated video taping interrogations.

[Virginia Dare]

9. Sign on Bush's desk:

"The Buck Never Stops Here"

[sutz12]

13. Sign on Bush's desk:

"The Buck Never Gets Here"

[City Lights]

16. The buck never even slows down.

He's got an industrial-strength oscillating fan on his desk to ensure nothing ever even comes close to landing there.

[groovedaddy]

11. Rule #1. Puppets aren't allowed to know ANYTHING

that could lead to their prosecution.

[sutz12]

12. "Give us a moment to construct the true facts in the case."

:evilgrin:

[KansDem]

14. I agree with Bush

"There's a preliminary inquiry going on and I think you'll find that a lot more data, facts will be coming out," he said, "that's good. It will be interesting to know what the true facts are."

Not the "false facts" you and your gang of thugs make-up everyday...

[bdamomma]

23. "true" another word he doesn't know the meaning of.

what a slimeball, can he be impeached now???

[Lasher]

15. The Saint Ronnie defense, employed recently by Gonzales

[NewJeffCT]

17. Bush: "Will no one rid me of this meddlesome tape?"

then, feign surprise when it's actually destroyed.

[debbierlus]

18. Of course, he never knows anything about anything

The Commander Guy & the Decider....

But, he never knows anything about anything ever.

No responsibility, all of the power.

[magellan]

19. LIES, LIES, LIES

"My first recollection of whether the tapes existed...was when Michael Hayden briefed me."

Yet Harriet Miers knew of their existence. We're supposed to believe Bush**'s own WH Counsel didn't mention to the President that there were tapes and she was (allegedly) going to tell the CIA not to destroy them? She just decided to do this all on her own, did she?

Gosh, I would enjoy being a lawyer in a place that let me do whatever I wanted without having to tell the boss about it.

[bdamomma]

20. another lie on top of another lie

sickening. another scandal on top of another scandal, all of which are impeachable offenses.

[Supersedeas]

27. Just like he wanted to know the facts about the leaker.