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Smoke Signals
Taylor Marsh —
... "We cannot and we must not use torture under any circumstances. We are better than that." - Leon Panetta
The New York Times is reporting that ...
Panetta On Torture
The Atlantic Politics Channel —
Here's Central Intelligence Agency director-designate Leon E. Panetta, writing about torture, in the Washington Monthly. Actually, no -- he's writing in the Washington Monthly about torture: ...
Panetta To Head CIA
TalkLeft —
... Good for Obama for not letting the CIA's torture apologists pressure him into naming one of their own. The President-Elect makes it clear that torture will not be tolerated in his administration. As Panetta wrote in a March 2008 Washington Monthly article: ...
Obama Picks Anti-Torture Advocate for CIA Chief
MoJo Blog Posts: mojo —
... Panetta is an even-tempered and highly regarded Washington player--kind of a Mr. Fixit in a nice suit. He is also a zero-tolerance critic of the use of torture, and he considers waterboarding--a tactic used by the CIA--to be torture. A year ago, he wrote in The Washington Monthly: ...
Panetta on Torture
Swampland —
... , which answers the most immediate question. What are Panetta's views on torture? This is what Panetta wrote in the Washington Monthly earlier this year: ...
Panetta At CIA
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan —
... Way, way better than Brennan, and, significantly detached from the torture regime and its apparatus in a way that anyone involved in the CIA in the last eight years would not be. As my colleague Marc Ambinder just said, the man who has had every job in Washington now has the most thankless task in Washington. But this appointment and Johnsen's are extremely encouraging for the restoration of Constitutional order after the Bush-Cheney protectorate. Then this: ...
Panetta on torture
Ben Smith's Blog —
The new CIA chief is against it, he wrote last year in Washington Monthly:
Those who support torture may believe that we can abuse captives in certain select circumstances and still be true to our values. But that is a false compromise. We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don't. There is no middle ground.
We cannot and we must not use torture under any circumstances. We are better than that.
Panetta's appointment, and the choice of Dawn Johnsen to lead ...
"No Torture. No Exceptions."
Obsidian Wings —
... So, you might be wondering, what are Panetta's views on torture? As it happens, he wrote a piece called 'No Torture. No Exceptions.' in the Washington Monthly, about a year ago: ...
Panetta to Manage the Unmanagable
Weekly Standard Blog —
... to run the CIA. So you take someone with a reputation as a competent manager and caretaker and install him there in the hopes that the agency does as little damage to you as possible. On the left, Obama supporters are quick to point to this item Panetta wrote in the Washington Monthly last year, at the height of the Democratic primary, condemning torture. Does it represent political posturing -- a sop to the left -- or Panetta's deeply held views on the issue? I'm guessing the latter, as Panetta's term as White House chief of staff coincided with the ...
Jon Soltz: New CIA Chief Must Be Anti-Torture
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com —
... How the CIA operates directly impacts the reception that America receives around the world, and how willing others are to work with us or against us. For our troops fighting in the warzone, America's reputation means a lot. For them, it is crucial that the new administration undo the torture policies of the Bush administration. That's why I was pleased that someone committed to ending torture policies, like Leon Panetta, has been tapped to be the new Director of the CIA. ...
More Obamarama Transitionalicious-a-Go-Go
Shakesville —
... Anyway, I've got no serious guff with Panetta. He seems fine to me. Given that he's firmly against the use of torture in any circumstances, he's certainly a step in the right direction from the dunderheads to which we've become accustomed over the last eight years. ...
DiFi and Jello Jay Feeling Unappreciated
Daily Kos —
... finds ample evidence that Panetta might just be the best choice for restoring the rule of law at CIA. Panetta wrote this in the Washington Monthly a year ago. ...
Leon Panetta
Comments from Left Field —
... Indeed: Panetta was crystal clear on his feelings about torture in this short piece he wrote for the Washington Monthly a year ago: ...
1/6: Leon At Langley?
Blogometer —
... by Pres.-elect Barack Obama to become the next CIA Director. Why? Because Panetta is an outspoken opponent of torture . After it was ...
Blogtalk: The Panetta Surprise
The Caucus —
... from neoconservatives Richard Perle and Douglas Feith, both of whom helped engineer defense policy during the Bush administration. Bloggers on the right and left all point out that Mr. Panetta’s appeal to the Obama team stems from his independence from Bush-era intelligence policy, including his unequivocal position on torture (“We cannot and we must not use torture under any circumstances. We are better than that.”), which he wrote about last year in the Washington Monthly. Still Philip Klein, ...
The Netroots Heart Panetta
Hotline On Call Part Deux —
... by Pres.-elect Barack Obama to become the next CIA dir. Why? Because Panetta satisfies the netroots' primary criterion for the position: he's an outspoken opponent of torture. ...
Frank Naif: If You Think Panetta's Wrong For CIA, You Might Be Part Of The Problem
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com —
... If the Obama administration is serious about fixing US intelligence, there is a compelling logic to putting Panetta in charge at CIA. Panetta, the intelligence naif, is not armpit deep in government (let alone intelligence) contracting. And he has loudly proclaimed his unequivocal opposition to torture. Plus he has a reputation for skillful management and navigation of the corridors of power. ...
It's Torture, Stupid: Why Obama Picked Leon Panetta to Head the CIA
Politics Daily —
... Panetta's pick suggests that no such person exists--and that, if forced to make priorities, Obama values b) over a). Panetta has written articles denouncing the use of torture under any circumstances. In that respect, he is clean. ...
Obama's Aide from the "Dark Side"
David Corn —
... to be CIA chief, Barack Obama sent a clear signal: no to torture. A year ago, Panetta wrote an article declaring, "We cannot and we must not use torture under any circumstances." And he included waterboarding--which the CIA has used---as torture. In fact, Obama's reported first choice for the CIA job, John Brennan, a career CIA official, had had his chances scuttled after bloggers and others griped that he had been ...
Obama's Aide from the "Dark Side"
MoJo Blog Posts: mojo —
... to be CIA chief, President-elect Barack Obama sent a clear signal: no to torture. A year ago, Panetta wrote an article declaring, "We cannot and we must not use torture under any circumstances." And he included waterboarding--which the CIA has used---as torture. When Obama on Friday morning publicly announced his appointment of Panetta, he declared, "under my administration, the United States does not torture." He noted that he was handing this "clear charge" to Panetta and that this policy "will ultimately make us safer." ...
Ray McGovern: Obama Picks a Conscience for the CIA
The Latest on Air America —
... lead the CIA out of the wilderness into which it was taken by sycophantic directors with very flexible attitudes toward truth, honesty and the law — directors who deemed it their duty to do the President’s bidding — legal or illegal; honest or dishonest. In a city in which lapel-flags have been seen as adequate substitutes for the Constitution, Panetta will bring a rigid adherence to the rule of law. For Panetta this is no battlefield conversion. On torture, for example, this is what he wrote a year ago : “We cannot simply suspend [American ideals of human rights] in the name ...
Was Panetta Picked in a Panic?
Antiwar.com Original —
... choice, the response might have been "Are you out of your frickin' mind?" (or something more pungent). If so, the decision was shortsighted at best. To be sure, as White House chief of staff, Panetta kept a notably unruly Clinton White House more or less on track, which is evidence that he is a competent manager. He is not associated with the controversial use of "enhanced interrogation" techniques, or torture , the CIA was authorized to use during the Bush years, and he has explicitly criticized the use of torture. He will probably have the ear of the ...
Questions for Panetta
Weekly Standard Blog —
... So the question that must be put to Panetta, who last year wrote with regard to torture that there "are certain lines Americans will not cross," is whether he still believes that rendition is on the right side of that line. ...
Obama’s Rendition Exception.
RedState: Conservative News and Community —
... Yes, yes, I know, Beer’s supposedly against “torture,” just like Panetta supposedly is. You may want to focus on the fact that it’s much more accurate to say that these guys are against us committing “torture.” ...
Obama’s CIA in turmoil; Panetta on the ledge
Michelle Malkin —
... Panetta has reportedly chafed at reporting through the director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, according to the senior adviser who said Blair is equally unhappy with Panetta. “Leon will be leaving,” predicted a former top U.S. intelligence official, citing the conflict with [DNI Dennis] Blair. The former official said Panetta is also “uncomfortable” with some of the operations being carried out by the CIA that he did not know about until he took the job. Flashback: Panetta on torture in the Washington Monthly. Once more: So much for the ...
