enhanced interrogation techniques

You are browsing the enhanced interrogation techniques tag archive.

CIA Lies to Congress

[Update below—Ed.]
During last spring’s controversy over whether congressional leaders were briefed by the CIA over its use of “enhanced interrogation techniques,” Russ called for an investigation into the congressional briefing process. It is now all the more clear that such an investigation is a must.
Yesterday, CQPolitics reported that CIA Director Leon Panetta admitted to the House Intelligence Committee that the… [Read the rest]

Jihad Leak Redux

Recently, I raised some questions about the impact of imprisonment at Guantánamo and how it affected those who were released.
For example, I wrote:
As for those who returned to jihad, one would like to know whether they were more motivated to do so as a result of their treatment at Guantánamo, or less. In other words, does lengthy incarceration without charge… [Read the rest]

The Way of the Warrior: Media Coverage of Gen. McChrystal

On May 12, 2009, Defense Secretary Robert Gates selected Gen. Stanley McChrystal to head our “Af-Pak” military operations. Though the selection was widely praised, two unsettling issues have dogged McChrystal’s ascent to the top of the military hierarchy. First, he participated in the cover-up of Pat Tillman’s mysterious “friendly-fire” death in Afghanistan. Second, as reported by Esquire (here, here, and… [Read the rest]

Has the CIA lied to Congress?

Russ recently suggested that we need an investigation of the congressional briefing process. As we continue to follow the political fight between Congress and the CIA, let us not forget the story of Mary McCarthy.
A senior CIA official, meeting with Senate staff in a secure room of the Capitol last June, promised repeatedly that the agency did not violate or… [Read the rest]

Interrogating Congress

Recently, I raised some questions about the reports that Democratic members of Congress had been aware of CIA interrogation methods.
Now, members of Congress themselves are suggesting that the CIA put out the information about the briefings in order to pass the buck. There are crucial questions we should be asking about the CIA, about the efficacy of the so-called “oversight”… [Read the rest]

Tortured Rationalizations

In an opinion piece, the Wall Street Journal convincingly argues that top Democrats in Congress have been speaking out of both sides of their mouths in criticizing Bush Administration policy on Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EITs), also known as torture.
These days, Speaker Pelosi insists she heard and saw no evil. “We were not — I repeat — were not told that waterboarding or any of… [Read the rest]

obama-new

THE GAME THAT GOES ON AND ON: A SWISS BANK, A PRESIDENT, AND THE PERMANENT GOVERNMENT

THE GAME THAT GOES ON AND ON: A SWISS BANK, A PRESIDENT, AND THE PERMANENT GOVERNMENT

A little-noted presidential golf outing opens the door to an intrigue-filled world of financiers, murky international interests, money-laundering, tax evasion, and politics as not-so-usual.
 — 
Last August, the presidential press corps followed Barack Obama and his family to Martha’s Vineyard for their brief vacation. The coverage focused on summery fare—a visit to an ice cream parlor, the books the president… [Read the rest]

What Obama Is Up Against

What Obama Is Up Against

The first anniversary of Barack Obama’s historic election finds many of his supporters already grousing. Fair enough: Obama has been more vigorous in some areas than others. But one essential question goes unasked: How much can any president accomplish against the wishes of recalcitrant power centers within his own government?
We Americans harbor a quaint belief that a new president… [Read the rest]

Behind Clinton Backer’s Arrest:  a Bipartisan, International Affair

Behind Clinton Backer’s Arrest:
a Bipartisan, International Affair

AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano

WhoWhatWhy.com reports exclusively on the background of Hassan Nemazee, the top Hillary Clinton fundraiser who was arrested and charged with forging loan documents. Early media accounts cast the event as an embarrassment for Ms. Clinton and the Democratic Party involving the financial misdoings of one prominent backer. Actually it is much more.  Behind the Nemazee… [Read the rest]

Hillary’s Bush Connection

Hillary’s Bush Connection

Research support for this story was provided by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute. Published in conjunction with The Nation.
IN THE CLINTONS’ PURSUIT OF POWER, there is no such thing as a strange bedfellow. One recently exposed inamorata was Norman Hsu, the mysterious businessman from Hong Kong who brought in $850,000 to Hillary Clinton’s campaign before being unmasked as… [Read the rest]

CIA Helped Bush Senior In Oil Venture

CIA Helped Bush Senior In Oil Venture

Newly released internal CIA documents assert that former president George Herbert Walker Bush's oil company emerged from a 1950's collaboration with a covert CIA officer.
A Real News exclusive, first published on The Huffington Post
Bush has long denied allegations that he had connections to the intelligence community prior to 1976, when he became Central Intelligence Agency director under President Gerald Ford.… [Read the rest]

25 Democratic Consultants

25 Democratic Consultants

Jack Quinn served as Vice President Gore’s Chief of Staff, and later as Counsel to President Clinton. Now he is a partner in a political consulting and lobbying firm with a close friend of Tom DeLay, and together, they have represented clients who want to drill in fragile areas of Alaska, put the screws to already beleaguered American consumers, and… [Read the rest]

Unholy Trinity: Katrina, Allbaugh and Brown

Unholy Trinity: Katrina, Allbaugh and Brown

Michael Brown will forever remain the poster child for federal incompetence. And the central question has yet to be answered: who was Michael Brown, and how did he end up at the helm of the Federal Emergency Management Agency? Indeed, how did he and his predecessor and mentor, Bush political operative Joe Allbaugh, manage to turn FEMA, a once proud… [Read the rest]

Anonymous Contact

If you have a tip or sensitive information that might make a good RealNews investigative story, feel free to contact us anonymously through the form on our CONTACT page.*

* PLEASE REMEMBER: WhoWhatWhy will be getting your tip anonymously, so we won't be able to reply to your message. If you'd like a reply, or would like to contact us about anything else, please leave a real email address.