Legal Commentary

Obama DNI Nominee Blair: No Torture Or Warrantless Wiretapping On His Watch

By Big Tent Democrat

I did not see it, but this AP article makes Admiral Dennis Blair, President Obama's designee for the post of Director of National Intelligence, seem very Shermaneque in his clarity:

The man tapped to oversee U.S. intelligence promised Congress on Thursday there would be no torture and no warrantless wiretapping on his watch. . . . Blair said one of his main responsibilities will be rebuilding the American people's trust in the nation's intelligence agencies. Eight years of a secretive Bush administration authorized harsh interrogations, the secret kidnapping and transferring of suspected terrorists, and a domestic surveillance program that operated without the knowledge of a secret court created 30 years ago to oversee just such activities.

"The intelligence agencies of the United States must respect the privacy and civil liberties of the American people, and they must adhere to the rule of law," Blair said. Blair said he believes strongly that "torture is not moral, legal or effective." . . . "I will work to rebuild a relationship of trust with the American people," he said.

This is, I must say, a terrific start.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 22, 2009 (boomark / email).