Article Entry
26 May 2009
Comments:3
Monday Morning News Kick Off on Tuesday: Obama Has a “Pre-9/11 Mentality” and Dick Cheney’s Second Act
Added by USGIF Category: Daily Intelligence Brief, General
Welcome to the official Monday Morning News Kick Off (on Tuesday) post. Since it was a holiday weekend, and we hope many enjoyed the day off yesterday, we decided to continue with the popular Monday Morning News Kick Off post even though technically it is Tuesday. Lots of political fighting going on over the past few days. President Obama was accused of having a “pre-9/11″ mentality by Republicans and Cheney is back out again and is having what some call a “second act.” Scroll down and enjoy.
House Minority Leader Accuses Obama of Having a Pre-911 Mentality
In case you missed it. Last week, House Minority Leader John Boehner criticized the president’s stance on the closing of Guantanamo Bay. He also accused Obama of holding a “pre-9/11 mentality” in fighting terrorism — which, in his opinion, has made America less safe. Read more here.
Dick Cheney’s Second Act
While the former VP has been slowing making a re-emergence into the public eye, many seem to be having mixed emotions in the press about it. Maureen Dowd said that: “Cheney has popped out of his dungeon, scary organ music blaring, to carry on his nasty campaign of fear and loathing.” And Chris Matthews actually pointed out that Cheney’s efforts are starting to throw Obama a bit off his game. Here’s what he said: “I saw something from Barack Obama I never even saw in the campaign, a sense he was listening for footsteps, that he could hear Cheney coming at him and he was defensive.” Eitherway, Mr. Cheney is certainly a polarizing figure and we would like to hear from you on what you think about him re-appearing in the public eye.
Powell Jousts With Cheney on Path of Republican Party
It seems that the former VP is not only dissing President Obama, he is going after his own — with a blatant slam on Colin Powell and his Republican credentials. On Sunday, Powell shot back with a comment about how the Republican party should not bow to “diktats that come from the right wing.” The bottom-line is that the Republican party is at a bit of a crossroad tight now. What do you all think? Do you see this party benefiting from taking a more moderate stance, or swinging to the right?
Boeing No Longer Largest Defense and Aerospace Firm
According to a study from Deloitte, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) is now the largest defense and aerospace firm — surpassing Boeing in annual revenue in 2008.
Why North Korea Rushed to a Nuclear Test
The most significant news surrounding the international community was North Korea’s nuclear test yesterday, which sparked outrage and also came sooner than analysts expected. So, why the rush to test? Reuters pulled together this insightful Q&A to help shed some light on this topic.
We hope you have a productive work week!!
Tags: Boeing, Colin Powell, Dick Cheney, EADS, Intelligence Community, Korea Nuclear Test, President Obama, Republican Party
From Linked-In:
Clarification: I am open to the possibility that a situation could arise that “enhanced interrogation” may be required. The very nature of such decisions are complex and time sensitive making the management of such a difficult problem to say the least. The interrogator on the video link you provided certainly should be heard as should other interrogators and experts in the proper setting. The fact that there were “thousands” of interrogations which he oversaw is definitelty concerning to me especially if they utilized “torture” but I am not sure what constitutes “torture” and or an interrogation or what the protocol for such a typical interrogation (as he oversaw).
Given we are in a situation where we need to aquire tactical information that could cause the loss of US lives, what form of interrogation would you suggest (think time sensitive)we use?
Do you think prolonged isolation is unacceptable?
Its about circumstances and boundaries. If you don’t know the circumstances how can you possibley judge the boundaries. If you think that their is no such set of circumstances that justified enhanced interrogation then I gues we will just have to agree to disagree.
From Linked-In:
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Thought one: People abuse handguns so should we make it so no one has the right to bear arms? People abused torture so should we make it illegal under any circumstance? I think there are circumstances which would warrant stressing the enemy. I am no expert but I think we should fix the policy so we don’t handcuff ourselves in those prudent situations.
Thought two: The huffington post as a publication is nothing more than hollywood rubbish. If your looking for fair and balanced spend your time elsewhere.
From Linked-In:
I am not overlooking history or assuming anything. “There will always be” and “there actually cusrrently is” are two very different statements, So to the question “is their is no such set of circumstances that justifies enhanced interrogation? your anwer is “no”.
This includes isolation, sleep deprivation and the many other techniques listed under this heading.