Posted by
Noel Gibeson on Monday, October 15, 2007 6:52:53 AM
by Noel Gibeson
WASHINGTON, DC - When President George W. Bush first nominated General Michael V. Hayden to the CIA directorship, he said it was to fix problems at the nation’s premier spy agency long suffering from morale problems and relevancy. Instead, Mr. Hayden’s real mission may be to squelch the truth about 9/11 and the rendition program, both of which were investigated by the agency’s Inspector General John L. Helgerson who issued reports critical of both.
In the highly unusual move by Hayden to launch an investigation into the CIA IG himself, the Administration may be trying to ensure that the truth about these two issues stays buried. The move to investigate the IG has been widely criticized by members of Congress. Is this a prelude to firing the IG? Probably.
Many people will remember that that close to two years ago this same IG investigated the CIA’s involvement concerning 9/11. Shortly thereafter some CIA officers quickly bought special legal insurance in case they were prosecuted or otherwise sued in civil court over their involvement. Normally, government officials are defended by government attorneys when their actions were done in the line-of-duty. That defense is free to the clients.
However, when a CIA officer’s actions were not in the line-of-duty, then the official must pay for his own defense. That is why this type of legal insurance suddenly became a best seller at the agency; they were afraid that the classified report on the CIA’s involvement in 9/11 would soon be made public and they would be indicted and arrested and tried for murder and other high crimes.
Similarly, the agency’s rendition program was investigated by the same IG. The rendition program involves kidnapping and torture of prisoners to extract information. Some prisoners are captured on the battlefield while others are taken in cities world-wide. These prisoners can be foreign nationals or, in some cases, U.S. citizens. The CIA works in close cooperation with some foreign governments to hide and deflect direct responsibility to the agency, particularly when renditions involve U.S. citizens. That report also remains classified. Suddenly, more CIA officers began buying the same legal insurance should they be indicted, arrested and tried for crimes.
Will the CIA IG be fired over these matters? Or, will he suddenly meet with a fatal accident immediately before he is fired or shortly thereafter in order to prevent him from going public with the results of these investigations? We are watching and we will see.
Noel Gibeson
RNC member