Fadel Abdallah, May 22 at 10:15 am #

Man, I gotta proofread my stuff better!!! Thanks for the correction, and of course that is what I meant to note, excepting that my increasing senility seems in the way.

He has the records in his personal notebooks to prove that something didn’t happen?

Where can I get such a notebook?

Colbert is good. Thinking on his feet like that was amazing. I love how he ended the interview too.

By ardee, May 22 at 6:17 am #

“...1953 when the Shah was ousted in Iran. Now that didnt lead to further complications at all did it?”
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ardee, your statement above is ambiguous! Possibly you mean to say when the democratically elected government of Musaddaq was overthrown by the CIA and the tyrant Shah was reinstalled by the CIA!

At another level, though I see that my friend Cyrena is back posting after long absence, I am not happy to see that she seems to be defending the CIA.

The CIA and the Pentagon are the two most odious institutions the world over. They are directly involved in many atrocities, killings, assassinations, evil wars and protecting dictators, tyrants and occupiers. I strongly believe that these two unholy institutions are at the very root-causes that led to the destruction of this country; morally, politically and economically! They might even be the planners and executors of the 9 /11 false flag operation! I really don’t have one good word to say about these odious institutions!

While I agree with Cyrena that the many honest and hardworking folks who happen to work for the CIA should not be tarred with such a brush there are numerous instances open to real criticisms.

During the Viet Nam conflict Southern Air ( CIA airline) landed in Oakland airport every other Tuesday. Shortly thereafter the quantity of “good” heroin on the streets of SF and Oakland increased dramatically.

Folks like Robert Gates sullied the reputation of the CIA intelligence gathering efforts by politicizing said intel for his bosses in the Executive branch. To their credit several senior analysts retired or quit rather than succumb to the almost daily pressures Cheney and his staff put on them to distort the meaning of said intel for political purposes.

Lest we forget that same Southern Air is in use today, rendering prisoners to places like Egypt, Syria and Jordan where torture is more easily practiced.

Lastly ( for brevity not lack of information) remember (?) 1954 when the CIA toppled the legitimate and democratic govt. of Guatemala for the benefit , not of democracy, but of United Fruit Company, or 1953 when the Shah was ousted in Iran. Now that didnt lead to further complications at all did it?

By diamond, May 22 at 3:34 am #

The CIA lied? Does this mean they really did fly all those drugs into America for the Gambino family? And gave all that money to Osama bin laden?I’m shocked and horrified. How this organization thinks it has a shred of credibility is the real mystery here.

~*~*

Just a suggestion on the mystery of how/why this organization thinks it might have a shred of credibility….

Maybe it’s because the larger percentage of personnel employed by the CIA are professional people who take their jobs quite seriously, as they do the well being of their country. The CIA has historically employed a few thousand people at various levels and capacities, (remember Valerie Plame?) who are quite good at their jobs. ALTHOUGH, we also know that the CIA historically answers ONLY to the Executive Branch. (at least at the high level).

So, while it’s a reasonable question, the answer is that the “CIA” didn’t commit these crimes. CHENEY’S special ‘team’ of CIA folks did these deeds, and while it might make folks feel good to paint with broad brushes, it doesn’t accomplish anything else.

Neither Yoo, Bybee, or Addington are CIA, yet they are the ones who came up with new definitions for crimes that have always been crimes, and TORTURE is a crime that never has an excuse, even if Cheney instructed them to call it something else…‘enhanced interrogation’. It’s not just the waterboarding that is torture, EVERYTHING they did was torture, but Yoo redefined it to be ‘allowable’ as long as it didn’t cause organ failure or death. (of course we know it did, but you don’t really expect that to ever be an admission now do you diamond?)

And then there’s that small matter of all of the torture that was NOT performed by the CIA. Remember all of the documentaries that have been published including testimonies, (MANY of them) from NON-CIA military personnel - specifically Army and Marine Corps, who admitted to the engaging in the torture of prisoners at Abu Grahib, Bragam AFB, and Guantanamo? They weren’t CIA. They were just regular military folks who believed that it was justified to engage in such activity.

What about them? Is that OK, since they aren’t CIA?

The CIA lied? Does this mean they really did fly all those drugs into America for the Gambino family? And gave all that money to Osama bin laden?I’m shocked and horrified. How this organization thinks it has a shred of credibility is the real mystery here.

Hey Leon, what say you now?