Obama's CIA power grab riles US Congressman

Congressman Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) is mad as hell and he's speaking out. In an exclusive with The Law Enforcement Examiner, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee spoke out regarding President Barack Obama's decision to supervise interrogations of terrorists from the White House.

"At the same time the situation in Afghanistan is getting decidedly worse and the Taliban is advancing, the Obama Justice Department is launching [a plan] that risks disrupting CIA counterterrorism initiatives. This is the last thing that should happen when the president is sending more troops into harm’s way, and the nation’s top military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, said over the weekend that AlQaeda still remains a threat to America and our interests abroad," the veteran lawmaker said.

"President Obama has said repeatedly that he wants to move forward, but his Justice Department seems intractably stuck in reverse. The message from the administration is completely confused, and the men and women at the CIA who we ask to protect our nation have been left in the lurch," he said.

"The American people have made it clear, they want the CIA to focus on exactly what its mission should be—disrupting and defeating our nation’s enemies and preventing the next attack," he added.

The Obama White House announced Monday that the CIA will no longer interrogate suspected terrorists. Any and all interrogations will be conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the direct supervision of a member of the Obama Administration, although no one has been named "Interrogation Czar."

The move is part of Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement that he will appoint a prosecutor to investigate the CIA agents involved in interrogations investigated by the CIA's Inspector General's Office.

Groups such as Amnesty International, Code Pick and others are applauding Attorney General Holder's decision to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate cases brought to the Department of Justice against members of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The premise of this questionable investigation is the allegations of misconduct by interrogators who questioned suspected terrorist leaders and their foot soldiers.

According to the CIA's inspector general's report, during Bush-era interrogations of suspects, CIA agents carried out mock executions -- although no one was physically harmed -- and the agents made threats of violent torture.

"Attorney General Holder has been biting at the bit since he took office in January to go after someone -- anyone -- regarding what he views as torture, although the IG's report reveals there were only threats of doing physical harm to the terrorists and their associates," said former NYPD Det. Sid Frances, a former intelligence officer.

"The timing of this news is suspect, as well. Obama's having trouble with his left-wing supporters and with this move by Holder, the Obama Admninistration is throwing them a bone to keep them from deserting him during his push to pass a health care bill," said the decorated detective and former Marine.

Political strategist Mike Baker sees something even more sinister at play. Obama's decision to have a domestic law enforcement agency rather than a foreign intelligence service conduct interrogations opens the door to American citizens being targeted.

"We're already heard from the likes of Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Holder that they believe the terrorists are pro-life, pro-gun and anti-government conservatives who view the federal government as intrusive. Now, instead of the CIA interrogating Guantanamo detainees or Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, Obama's Justice Department -- especially the FBI -- will be following direct orders from the White House on whom they must interrogate," warns Baker.

Baker points to the extraordinary number of "Czars" appointed by President Obama -- 45 at last count. He believes that Obama is by-passing his own Cabinet because "these so-called Czars do not have to testify before congress or watchdog committees and they do not even have to be confirmed."

Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA's executive director, issued the following statement on the release of various documents and announcements regarding Holder's action:

"That the Bush administration was prepared to abandon America's human rights legal obligations is a cautionary tale for those who think any nation can disregard human rights in the fight against terrorism. The report demonstrates that the US government agencies' internal monitoring systems are unreliable in upholding American values or laws. Compliance comes through disclosure and reform."

"The IG's report demonstrates that it is more important than ever that a comprehensive and independent investigation with the full force of the law is created to reveal and hold accountable those who requested, devised and carried out illegal counter-terrorism practices. It's time to appoint a special prosecutor to prove that US laws will be enforced, no matter who violated them," said Cox.

"The CIA shouldn't be operating in the US to begin with. If they are then by all means investigate and prosecute. But these are interrogations of non-citizens conducted outside of the US and why are these liberals so worried about their rights while they walk all over the rights of American citizens?" asks New York police officer Edie Albio.

"Why are FBI agents -- federal cops -- getting involved in hardcore intelligence work? They're not trained for that and they shouldn't since they operate within our communities," she said.

Meanwhile, many security and intelligence professionals are not happy about this latest round of accusations and its creation of a new media feeding frenzy during a time of war.

"Holder was a Clinton Justice Department bigwig who -- along with another Associate Attorney General, Jamie Goerlick -- actually contributed to the US being blind-sided on September 11, 2001. During the Clinton Administration, [Attorney General Janet] Reno, Holder and Goerlick prohibited FBI agents from sharing information with the CIA and vice versa. They even forbade FBI agents involved with intelligence gathering or counterintelligence from communicating with FBI agents involved in law enforcement. A terrorist couldn't have created a better scenario," said security analyst George McHugh.

"These people -- Obama, MoveOn.Org, the ACLU and others -- are working hard to make Americans less safe and terrorists more secure. It's insanity," he said.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he's the new editor for the House Conservatives Fund's weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.
He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He's also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc.

To subscribe to Kouri's newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write "Subcription" on the subject line.