Hoekstra: Pelosi Needs to Show Evidence the CIA Misled Her
The Michigan representative on national security, Guantánamo Bay, and Nancy Pelosi
Since 2004, Rep. Pete Hoekstra has been the top Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The Michigan congressman, who is also running for governor of his state, spoke with U.S. News last week on some of today's top issues—including the Guantánamo Bay prison, the Nancy Pelosi scandal, and whether the CIA has ever misled Congress.
You've been an outspoken critic of several of the Obama administration's national security policies, particularly the plan to close the Guant á namo Bay detention facility. But w hat do you think is t he single most helpful thing that the Obama adm inistration has done for national security?
I can't get into a lot of detail. But a lot of the secret activities that the Intelligence Committee has a unique perspective on, they're continuing. These are well-articulated, proven-to-be-successful strategies, and they're continuing. So that is helpful.
Can you be more specific as to what activities you're talking about?
No, I can't. I could, but I'd get into big trouble. If I gave you more specifics, I'd be in bigger trouble than the speaker!
If there's a single decision you could make or policy you could enforce regarding national security to keep Americans safe, what would it be?
It's to stay on offense versus defense. We found that, early after 2001, we had understood the threat—but we had pretty much been on defense. After 9/11, that posture changed. We stayed on offense, and we continue to put pressure on al Qaeda and radical terrorist groups, preventing them the time to reorganize, to plan and train for a series of attacks. We've just kept them off balance. That's one of the reasons we've been able to keep America safe for a number of years, and I think that this president, in a number of ways, has agreed that we'll stay on offense.
How have Obama's decisions shown that he's committed to that strategy?
He's backed off on some of the things [that were problematic], such as with the military tribunals. He laid out somewhat of a framework for closing Guantánamo.
But I think that in eight or nine months, Guantánamo is still going to be open. I don't think he can get done what he wants to get done in eight months. There's still a tremendous amount of work that needs to be carried out to flesh that strategy out and then to actually implement it.
How confident are you in the U.S. prison system's ability to handle prisoners of all types and levels of security threat?
Last time we checked, our maximum security prisons had capacity for [only] one more person. So it's kind of like, OK, where are you going to move whatever number you deem to be appropriate? The other thing is, these are a different category of prisons. The prison in Guantánamo is designed specifically for the kinds of individuals which are very different than the kinds you'll find in our maximum security prisons. Most of these people are on 24-hour suicide watch. They don't mind being martyrs. They have no expectation for rehabilitation. They haven't given up jihad. They're very different than what you'll find in a typical U.S. prison.
The other thing is, right now, they're located in a remote facility where the people guarding them are not known to them and are not known to the other radical jihadist groups. If you put them in a community, the community becomes vulnerable. The prison guards' families become vulnerable, because they are now known to the community. The dynamics are very, very different when you're looking at having them at Gitmo versus having them in Jackson, Mich.
What particular national security issues do you think are being obscured right now by the focus on Guantánamo and Pelosi ?
Number one, the fallout from this. The fallout is that there's a tremendous deterioration of morale within the CIA. Many of them are kind of beside themselves. They're watching out for their own backsides because of the deterrent that someday they may be prosecuted for what they did—for what they thought and what did have the support of the collective political leadership in America. The intelligence community has been at the forefront of keeping America safe. Having an intelligence [community] that is risk averse, that in some cases is lawyering up, is not the kind of intelligence community that we need today to keep America safe. So I'm worried about that.
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Reader Comments
cia
The greatest threat to USA, its citizens, and the people of the world are fbi/cia punks, thugs, torturers, and assassins.
http://nz.indymedia.org/article/74002/evidence-fbicia-corrupt-intelligence-ope
http://www.sosbeevfbi.com/part4-worldinabo.html
QUESTIONS! geral sosbee (956)371-5210
Pelosi and the CIA
ICG of ok should did a hole and bury yourself in it. CIA has the evidence to prove they saved American lifes through their terrogation techniques, Would you want to die just so we don't torture terrorists? Why don't you go to the islamic countries and ask the taliban or al quida nicely on what there next plot is and when your head is returned to your family in a box, would you still think that terrorists have the same rights as a US citizen.
'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not
started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001
and have continually threatened to do so since?
Were people from all over the world, not brutally murdered that day,
in downtown Manhattan , across the Potomac from the nation's capitol and in
a field in Pennsylvania ?
Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible,
burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?
And I'm supposed to care that a few Taliban were claiming to be
tortured by a justice system of the nation they come from and are fighting
against in a brutal insurgency
I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents
for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.
I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start
caring about the Holy Bible, the mere belief of which is a crime punishable
by beheading in Afghanistan .
I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking
off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed
throat.
I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Afghanistan come
out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by
hiding in mosques.
I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search
of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide
bombs.
I'll care when the Canadian media stops pretending that their freedom
of speech on stories is more important than the lives of the soldiers on
the ground or their families waiting at home to hear about them when
something happens.
In the meantime, when I hear a story about a CANADIAN soldier roughing
up an Insurgent terrorist to obtain information, know this:
I don't care.
When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not
to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank:
I don't care.
When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat,
and 'fed special' food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining
that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in
your heart of hearts:
I don't care.
And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled 'Koran'
and other times 'Quran.' Well, Jimmy Crack Corn you guessed it,
I don't care!!
If you agree with this viewpoint, pass this on to all your E-mail
friends Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this
ridiculous Behaviour!
If you don't agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should
you choose the latter, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happens
here in our great Country!
And may I add:
'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a
difference in the world. But, the Soldiers don't have that problem.'
I have another quote that I would like to add, AND.......I hope you
forward all this.
One last thought for the day:
Only five defining forces have ever offered to die for you:
1. Jesus Christ
2. The Canadian Soldier.
3. The British Soldier..
4. The US Soldier, and
5. The Australian Soldier
One died for your soul, the other 4 for your freedom.
YOU MIGHT WANT TO PASS THIS ON, AS MANY SEEM TO FORGET ALL OF THEM.
AMEN!
Have a safe Holiday, and
Don't forget to THANK A VETERAN...
Pelosi Et Al
She's third in line of sucession, thus guaranteeing nothing is to happen with Obama! Two mouths (add Biden here) that roar and say nothing of substance (the forming of a platform for the future?)This is like watching the Marx Bros all over again.
Groucho and Harpa! Say the magic word (hypocrite) and win a trip to the 'Secret Vice Presidential Bunker' located in the basement - no - the upstairs, unused bedroom of the VP residence in Bethesda, Maryland - no - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, or is it in----. Two clowns limited only by their audiences!
This should scare a lot of people, why doesn't it? To politicized? To preoccupied with survival, considering that everything is falling apart under our feet and no one in this government seems to know what to do or even cares! Recovery? Yeah right! Can you say 2016, or 2020?
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