What Is Obama Hiding? Cheney's Right: Release the Memos

By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

The most striking statement in the president's speech on national security yesterday at the National Archives:

I will never hide the truth because it is uncomfortable.

But here's former Vice President Cheney on the memos that President Obama refuses to release:

Yet somehow, when the soul-searching was done and the veil was lifted on the policies of the Bush administration, the public was given less than half the truth. The released memos were carefully redacted to leave out references to what our government learned through the methods in question. Other memos, laying out specific terrorist plots that were averted, apparently were not even considered for release. For reasons the administration has yet to explain, they believe the public has a right to know the method of the questions, but not the content of the answers. ...

As far as the interrogations are concerned, all that remains an official secret is the information we gained as a result. Some of his defenders say the unseen memos are inconclusive, which only raises the question why they won't let the American people decide that for themselves. I saw that information as vice president, and I reviewed some of it again at the National Archives last month. I've formally asked that it be declassified so the American people can see the intelligence we obtained, the things we learned, and the consequences for national security. And as you may have heard, last week that request was formally rejected. It's worth recalling that ultimate power of declassification belongs to the president himself. President Obama has used his declassification power to reveal what happened in the interrogation of terrorists. Now let him use that same power to show Americans what did not happen, thanks to the good work of our intelligence officials ...

It's clear the president is hiding the truth because it's uncomfortable for him.

Whether you think this was torture or not, Dick Cheney has a point. It's time to release those memos. The president owes it to the American people.

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