Retired Army General Paul Kern, who led the Abu Ghraib abuse investigation, accused the White House of having "two sets of standards for interrogation -- one for the CIA and another for the military."
This double standard, Kern told the Post, creates problems for the credibility and accountability of the U.S.
General Kern is one of 27 retired military officers who signed a letter that urged the House and Senate intelligence committees to hold the CIA to the same standards that Congress set for the military. "We ought to have one set of standards, period," Kern said.
McCain: New Interrogation Policy Needed
On the presidential campaign trail, Republican White House hopeful John McCain said he wants "a crash program" in civilian and military schools that emphasizes language and creates a "new specialty in strategic interrogation" so the nation never feels the need for torture.
McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war who suffered mistreatment, talked about the new proposal at a campaign stop Saturday in Columbia, South Carolina. He said he wanted to create an Army Advisory Corps of 20,000 soldiers to act as military advisers and revive the World War II-era Office of Strategic Services to fight terrorists.
Meanwhile, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee slammed both the destruction of the CIA videos and the aggressive interrogation techniques suspected to be used in those interrogations. Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) expressed worries of a Watergate-style cover-up.
"Burning tapes, destroying evidence, I don't know how deep this goes," he said. "Could there be obstruction of justice? Yes. How far does this go up in the White House -- who knew it? I don't know."
# # #
NEXT MONDAY: In the tradition of the late advice columnist Ann Landers' annual Christmas Day column, "The 'Skeeter Bites Report" will present an updated version of its annual holiday special on "The Pagan Roots of Christmas."
# # #
Volume III, Number 2
Copyright 2007, Skeeter Sanders. All rights reserved.
This double standard, Kern told the Post, creates problems for the credibility and accountability of the U.S.
General Kern is one of 27 retired military officers who signed a letter that urged the House and Senate intelligence committees to hold the CIA to the same standards that Congress set for the military. "We ought to have one set of standards, period," Kern said.
McCain: New Interrogation Policy Needed
McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war who suffered mistreatment, talked about the new proposal at a campaign stop Saturday in Columbia, South Carolina. He said he wanted to create an Army Advisory Corps of 20,000 soldiers to act as military advisers and revive the World War II-era Office of Strategic Services to fight terrorists.
Meanwhile, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee slammed both the destruction of the CIA videos and the aggressive interrogation techniques suspected to be used in those interrogations. Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) expressed worries of a Watergate-style cover-up.
"Burning tapes, destroying evidence, I don't know how deep this goes," he said. "Could there be obstruction of justice? Yes. How far does this go up in the White House -- who knew it? I don't know."
# # #
NEXT MONDAY: In the tradition of the late advice columnist Ann Landers' annual Christmas Day column, "The 'Skeeter Bites Report" will present an updated version of its annual holiday special on "The Pagan Roots of Christmas."
# # #
Volume III, Number 2
Copyright 2007, Skeeter Sanders. All rights reserved.
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