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Donald Trump May Select an Architect of Bush’s Torture Program to Run CIA

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L

Lime

Member
Donald Trump may select Jose Rodriguez, one of the primary architects of the George W. Bush torture program, to run the Central Intelligence Agency, according to a law firm with close ties to Trump.

Rodriguez, the former director of the National Clandestine Service, helped developed the CIA black sites, secret prisons operated in foreign countries where interrogators used a range of torture tactics, including the use of “waterboarding,” the simulated drowning technique once used by the Khmer Rouge and Nazi agents to glean information from detainees.

At least 136 individuals were detained and tortured by the CIA. Interrogation tactics also included forced nudity, sleep deprivation while being vertically shackled, and confinement in a small box.

Rodriguez is unapologetic about his role in the program, telling 60 Minutes that “we did the right thing for the right reason,” even if it meant “going to the border of legality.”

The suggestion that Rodriguez may head the CIA was made in a post-election prediction document published by Dentons, a law and lobbying firm where Trump confidant Newt Gingrich serves as a senior advisor. Dentons was also retained by Make American Number 1, one of the primary Super PACs supporting Trump’s candidacy.

[...]

Rodriguez not only crafted the Bush torture program, but played a key role in the cover up. Following revelations of the effort, Rodriguez worked directly to get rid of the evidence and destroyed 92 video tapes revealing the waterboarding of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times.

In destroying the tapes, Rodriguez claimed that he was simply protecting agents in the field from reprisals from terrorists. But as one declassified email noted, Rodriguez was in fact concerned about public backlash from the brutal visuals. “Heat from destroying is nothing compared to what it would be if the tapes ever got into [the] public domain — he said that out of context, they would make us look terrible; it would be ‘devastating’ to us,” the email noted.

Rodriguez has defended his tenure at the CIA, telling Amy Davidson of the New Yorker that his interrogation techniques were “sometimes harsh, but fell well short of what is torture.” Rodriguez argued that such methods were valid because they were reviewed by government lawyers and certain members of Congress were briefed.

Other former Bush officials may snag positions in the new Trump administration. Stephen Hadley, the former National Security Advisor to Bush and current board member to Raytheon, could serve as Secretary of Defense, the Dentons memo predicts. Chris Christie, a former prosecutor in Bush’s Department of Justice, may win an appointment as Attorney General. Christie, notably, has staked much of his law enforcement claim to fame on his prosecution of three brothers over a plot to attack the Fort Dix military base. An investigation by The Intercept’s Murtaza Hussain a range of problems in the prosecution, with much of the evidence supplied by highly paid informants who coerced the defendants into making vague statements that were later maliciously interpreted by prosecutors.

On CNN on Wednesday, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., a key Trump supporter on Capitol Hill and a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, appeared to lay the groundwork for the return of waterboarding, claiming to host Wolf Blitzer that the technique “isn’t torture.” The International Committee of the Red Cross, which oversees the Geneva Conventions, declared in 2014 that the waterboarding meets the definition of torture under U.S. and international law.
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https://theintercept.com/2016/11/11/trump-cia-torture/
 
D

Dark Cloud

Member
How can you not love Trump? This is why we voted for him. He never lied to us. He promised he was going against Washington!

/s
 
R

roytheone

Member
Amnesty International will probably have to hire more staff members for all the statements they will have to put out condemning the actions of the United States....
 
V

Verelios

Member
Guys, please stop with all the NEGATIVITY, in these times under our Fuhr-...President, we need to be UNITED and UNDERSTANDING, but most of all PEACEFUL
 
D

DragonSworne

Banned
When do the camps start getting built? We are turning into the bad guys day by day.


This piece of shit human being should have been thrown in a prison cell. Thanks Obama for not going after the Bush administration. These people are back now.
 
F

FStop7

Banned
The HBO documentary Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden has a lot of interview footage with Jose Rodriguez. It's worth watching.
 
U

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
The crazy thing is that Trump was clear during the campaign that he supported these kinds of policies.
 
E

Electric Eye

Banned
Oh yes the old "new administrations do not prosecute the crimes of the last because of politeness".

Remember this guy gaf? Remember he and the entire bush administration and the war crimes they were allowed to get away with in the name of politeness? Chickens coming home to roost.
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
"This sucks, guys but this is the only opportunity this country will have to fix some deep rooted problems including the corruption of our political leaders".
 
M

mackaveli

Member
Bronx-Man said:
Every Trump Administration thread just keeps depressing me more than the last.
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Yup. It just keeps getting worst and people are still thinking Trump will somehow pivot. Trump doesn't know anything and people in his inner circle are just telling him who to pick. Trump is just going to be a puppet. He will probably have no clue what is going on in the real world or in his administration.

If Trump actually had some decent people in his inner circle then maybe there could be some hope. But since everyone mocked him he will make you bend the knee. That Omarosa quote in that Frontline documentary is going to come true and it's depressing.
 
J

Jacobi

Banned
mackaveli said:
Yup. It just keeps getting worst and people are still thinking Trump will somehow pivot. Trump doesn't know anything and people in his inner circle are just telling him who to pick. Trump is just going to be a puppet. He will probably have no clue what is going on in the real world or in his administration.

If Trump actually had some decent people in his inner circle then maybe there could be some hope. But since everyone mocked him he will make you bend the knee. That Omarosa quote in that Frontline documentary is going to come true and it's depressing.
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So Bush 2.0
 
M

maquiladora

Member
All those fucking idiots saying they were voting for Trump because Hillary was an evil woman that wanted to start WWIII....hang your heads in shame.
 
J

jmdajr

Member
I don't think Trump even knew who the fuck all these people were before being elected.

He's just rolling with whatever they put forth before him.
 
D

Davilmar

Member
samn said:
Obama should have prosecuted these people when he had the chance. The man had no backbone.
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How can Obama have prosecuted those individuals if the Bush Administration interpreted the law to allow for torture and enhanced interrogation? Would could argue that Obama would have to violate Ex post facto guidelines to make this work. As shitty as it is for someone like me to say that. I wanted these pricks in jail, but not through bending the law.
 
U

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
Jacobi said:
So Bush 2.0
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Bush was an experienced governor, he was a dick but he was used to the weight of political office. Trump is used to building casinos and hosting gameshows, not signing orders to execute people, education policy, healthcare, basic diplomacy etc. He has never had to make decisions that affected millions of lives.
 
R

RainForce

Banned
It's so weird to see the world taken over by a cartoon villain. I never want to hear anyone ever again say "nah, that's not believable" when writers go a certain direction with their fictional antagonists.
 
M

mackaveli

Member
What's the typical day in the President's office? Like I wonder if Obama explained to him what it's like and Trump is like fuck this sucks. I just want to play golf.

Also if Trump is slacking on the job or not even doing his job by just going on vacation the media better crucify him. Like I know Bush took how many vacation days but if Trump takes this job as a joke and actually lets Pence just do everything should this not be on the news everyday.

Like what is normal protocol for a president and his day to day.
 
W

wachie

Member
Oh come on, you guys are way over-reacting. KEEP AN OPEN MIND.

This guy hasnt even taken charge, stop assuming.

America will truly be great, again.
 
J

Jmanunknown

Member
mackaveli said:
What's the typical day in the President's office? Like I wonder if Obama explained to him what it's like and Trump is like fuck this sucks. I just want to play golf.

Also if Trump is slacking on the job or not even doing his job by just going on vacation the media better crucify him. Like I know Bush took how many vacation days but if Trump takes this job as a joke and actually lets Pence just do everything should this not be on the news everyday.

Like what is normal protocol for a president and his day to day.
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This is a story about a day in the life of Obama as president


http://www.businessinsider.com/day-...one-call-hell-get-about-six-hours-of-sleep-19
 
S

Syf

Banned
Animator said:
All the Trump appointments read like picking Zodiac Killer to be the head of Homicide division.
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lol, I've been trying to find the words for all the names I've seen listed over the last two days and this might be the best comparison.
 
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