OBAMA ADMINISTRATION WILL NOT PROSECUTE INTERROGATORS - AT 5:31 P.M. ET:  The president makes a wise decision.  From The New York Times:

After a tense internal debate, President Obama officially announced this afternoon that his administration would not prosecute C.I.A. operatives for carrying out controversial interrogations of terrorist suspects, as the Justice Department began releasing a number of detailed memos describing harsh techniques used against al Qaeda suspects in secret overseas prisons.

“In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carrying out their duties relying in good faith upon the legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution,” Mr. Obama said in a statement issued by the White House.

COMMENT:  That is correct.  But don't think the left will be deterred.  The story points out that the CIA fears the release of this material will give aid to those who want a full congressional investigation into the agency's methods.  A similar investigation in the 1970s almost destroyed the CIA, and rendered it impotent for years, a goal of the far left then and now.

An examination of some of the interrogation techniques described in the story reveals that, yes, they were harsh, but far from torture, as we normally understand it.  The story contains this intriguing note:

Leon E. Panetta, the C.I.A. director, has pressed the White House for weeks to redact sensitive details about specific interrogation techniques. He argued that revealing such information would pave the way for future disclosures of intelligence sources and methods, and would jeopardize the C.I.A.’s relationship with foreign intelligence services.

The problem is that the Obama administration is now filled with mid-level appointees who are militant leftists, like the disgraceful Rosa Brooks, recently appointed to the Pentagon.  Arguments like Panetta's will not resonate with them at all, and the problem is particularly serious at the Justice Department.  We are getting a partial replay of the Clinton administration, under which barriers were set up preventing useful exchanges of intelligence information, barriers that aided the 9-11 murderers.

Enemies are watching.  Foreign intelligence agencies, with which we have relationships, are watching.  They will all draw conclusions.

April 16, 2009