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John Kiriakou spent 14 years at the CIA and two years in a federal prison for blowing the whistle on the agency's use of torture. He served on John Kerry's Senate Foreign Relations Committee for two years as senior investigator into the Middle East. He writes and speaks about national security, whistleblowing, the prison-industrial complex, and foreign policy, and is an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and winner of the 2015 PEN Center USA First Amendment award.
OpEd News Member for 453 week(s) and 5 day(s)
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Sunday, July 17, 2016
The Police Are Right About One Thing: Sentencing Reform The United States already has 25 percent of the world's prison population. The country desperately needs sentencing reform. The system cries out for it. All the relevant associated interest groups support it. The political will for it exists. The country has waited long enough. We need prison reform now.
Sunday, July 17, 2016The Police Are Right About One Thing: Sentencing Reform The United States already has 25 percent of the world's prison population. The country desperately needs sentencing reform. The system cries out for it. All the relevant associated interest groups support it. The political will for it exists. The country has waited long enough. We need prison reform now.
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Sunday, July 10, 2016
Hillary Clinton Email Investigation Shows Inherent Unfairness in U.S. Justice System What I do seek is fairness in the system. It's too late for me. But I certainly won't be the last person to be charged with espionage for blowing the whistle on government waste, fraud, abuse or illegality. It's going to happen again. And when it does, I hope the defendant asks for the Clinton/Petraeus special treatment.
Sunday, July 10, 2016Hillary Clinton Email Investigation Shows Inherent Unfairness in U.S. Justice System What I do seek is fairness in the system. It's too late for me. But I certainly won't be the last person to be charged with espionage for blowing the whistle on government waste, fraud, abuse or illegality. It's going to happen again. And when it does, I hope the defendant asks for the Clinton/Petraeus special treatment.
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Thursday, July 7, 2016
How Brexit Will Affect U.S. Foreign Policy The mainstream media has made a great deal of Brexit being the result of British reaction against immigration. That's a shallow and not terribly analytic assessment. The truth is that Washington selfishly needs a unified EU to help fight its wars around the world. It needs the British to lean on other European countries to do its bidding.
Thursday, July 7, 2016How Brexit Will Affect U.S. Foreign Policy The mainstream media has made a great deal of Brexit being the result of British reaction against immigration. That's a shallow and not terribly analytic assessment. The truth is that Washington selfishly needs a unified EU to help fight its wars around the world. It needs the British to lean on other European countries to do its bidding.
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Tuesday, July 5, 2016
What if Hillary Clinton Were a Whistleblower? in Hillary Clinton's case, it seems that everything rests on the notion of criminal intent. Did Hillary set up her email server specifically to subvert the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)? Did she set up her email server for the express purpose of passing classified information to people not entitled to receive it? Of course not. But that's not the standard, at least it's not in the federal Eastern District of Virginia.
Tuesday, July 5, 2016What if Hillary Clinton Were a Whistleblower? in Hillary Clinton's case, it seems that everything rests on the notion of criminal intent. Did Hillary set up her email server specifically to subvert the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)? Did she set up her email server for the express purpose of passing classified information to people not entitled to receive it? Of course not. But that's not the standard, at least it's not in the federal Eastern District of Virginia.
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Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Loretta Lynch's Prison Reforms Don't Meet the For-Profit Standard Attorney General Lynch probably means well. She probably really does want to help people transition from prison back into society. But the entire Bureau of Prisons, the entire U.S. system of mass incarceration, is broken and must be scrapped and rebuilt. Dancing around the edges of the problem isn't going to help anybody.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016Loretta Lynch's Prison Reforms Don't Meet the For-Profit Standard Attorney General Lynch probably means well. She probably really does want to help people transition from prison back into society. But the entire Bureau of Prisons, the entire U.S. system of mass incarceration, is broken and must be scrapped and rebuilt. Dancing around the edges of the problem isn't going to help anybody.
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Thursday, June 23, 2016
Jeffrey Sterling, a Poster Boy for CIA Discrimination and National Security Abuse Sterling has appealed his conviction to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, an action that likely will take years. He has two-and-a-half years to go on his sentence, and with good behavior and halfway house, he'll likely be released by December 2017, well before the Circuit Court issues a ruling. He passes his days with murderers, child molesters, and drug kingpins. There's no "justice" in that.
Thursday, June 23, 2016Jeffrey Sterling, a Poster Boy for CIA Discrimination and National Security Abuse Sterling has appealed his conviction to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, an action that likely will take years. He has two-and-a-half years to go on his sentence, and with good behavior and halfway house, he'll likely be released by December 2017, well before the Circuit Court issues a ruling. He passes his days with murderers, child molesters, and drug kingpins. There's no "justice" in that.
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Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Guantanamo Bay Should Be Closed Forever How can we, with a straight face, tell other countries what they can and cannot do when we maintain an extra-judicial and extra-constitutional prison like Guantanamo, when we have tortured prisoners, when we have run a system of secret prisons around the world, when we have sent prisoners to Third World countries to be tortured?
Tuesday, June 21, 2016Guantanamo Bay Should Be Closed Forever How can we, with a straight face, tell other countries what they can and cannot do when we maintain an extra-judicial and extra-constitutional prison like Guantanamo, when we have tortured prisoners, when we have run a system of secret prisons around the world, when we have sent prisoners to Third World countries to be tortured?
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Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Obama Should Demand FBI Director James Comey's Resignation Today If the FBI can't do its job, if its only counterterrorism successes are when it entraps hapless idiots who don't know any better and who never had any intention of committing a terrorist act, it should be scrapped. At the very least, President Obama should immediately demand the FBI director's resignation. That should happen today.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016Obama Should Demand FBI Director James Comey's Resignation Today If the FBI can't do its job, if its only counterterrorism successes are when it entraps hapless idiots who don't know any better and who never had any intention of committing a terrorist act, it should be scrapped. At the very least, President Obama should immediately demand the FBI director's resignation. That should happen today.
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Monday, June 6, 2016
If Hillary Clinton Gets a Pass on Espionage From President Obama, So Should Whistleblowers President Obama should be consistent. If the Justice Department is not going to charge Hillary Clinton with a crime, the president should pardon us whistleblowers. Thomas Drake, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden and I would appreciate it. And it's only fair.
Monday, June 6, 2016If Hillary Clinton Gets a Pass on Espionage From President Obama, So Should Whistleblowers President Obama should be consistent. If the Justice Department is not going to charge Hillary Clinton with a crime, the president should pardon us whistleblowers. Thomas Drake, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden and I would appreciate it. And it's only fair.
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Sunday, May 29, 2016
Unfair, Inappropriate and Merciless A single judge showing mercy to a single defendant can't change the system. Other judges -- lots of them -- must follow suit. That will do nothing, though, for mandatory minimums. Only Congress can change those. And progress is slow. Judges have wide latitude in sentencing. But most simply follow the federal sentencing schedule, which does not account for any extenuating circumstances.
Sunday, May 29, 2016Unfair, Inappropriate and Merciless A single judge showing mercy to a single defendant can't change the system. Other judges -- lots of them -- must follow suit. That will do nothing, though, for mandatory minimums. Only Congress can change those. And progress is slow. Judges have wide latitude in sentencing. But most simply follow the federal sentencing schedule, which does not account for any extenuating circumstances.
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Saturday, May 21, 2016
The CIA and Hollywood, an Unlawful Alliance The end result of the CIA's cooperation with Hollywood and others in the entertainment industry is that it results in the propagandizing of the American people. Congress must re-implement the Smith-Mundt Act, the original one, and keep the government out of our movie theaters and televisions. Propaganda is a malicious force. It has no business in American society.
Saturday, May 21, 2016The CIA and Hollywood, an Unlawful Alliance The end result of the CIA's cooperation with Hollywood and others in the entertainment industry is that it results in the propagandizing of the American people. Congress must re-implement the Smith-Mundt Act, the original one, and keep the government out of our movie theaters and televisions. Propaganda is a malicious force. It has no business in American society.
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Monday, May 16, 2016
The Moral -- and Financial -- Cost of Exposing Government Wrongdoing The Justice Department charges whistleblowers with espionage to force them to defend themselves. The point is not even to find you guilty of this heinous crime. It is to bankrupt you, to separate you from friends, family, and your natural allies. And it's to frighten other would-be whistleblowers.
Monday, May 16, 2016The Moral -- and Financial -- Cost of Exposing Government Wrongdoing The Justice Department charges whistleblowers with espionage to force them to defend themselves. The point is not even to find you guilty of this heinous crime. It is to bankrupt you, to separate you from friends, family, and your natural allies. And it's to frighten other would-be whistleblowers.
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Sunday, May 15, 2016
Exposing the Injustice of Vengeance Against the Convicted We live in a system that seeks vengeance against those convicted of crimes, wants them to continue to suffer, both during and after release. That's why there's no public outcry against the human and civil rights violations that current and former prisoners face every day. That's why there's no public outcry when prisoners die unnecessarily in prison because of substandard medical care.
Sunday, May 15, 2016Exposing the Injustice of Vengeance Against the Convicted We live in a system that seeks vengeance against those convicted of crimes, wants them to continue to suffer, both during and after release. That's why there's no public outcry against the human and civil rights violations that current and former prisoners face every day. That's why there's no public outcry when prisoners die unnecessarily in prison because of substandard medical care.
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Sunday, May 8, 2016
Colson Task Force Leads on Prison Reform, Will Congress Follow? Nobody is "rehabilitated." There is no training and no education beyond a GED degree. Prison "Education" departments are nothing more than prisoners teaching other prisoners to read. There is no budget for vocational training. So when a prisoner is finally released, he goes back to his old neighborhood broke, uneducated, and untrained.
Sunday, May 8, 2016Colson Task Force Leads on Prison Reform, Will Congress Follow? Nobody is "rehabilitated." There is no training and no education beyond a GED degree. Prison "Education" departments are nothing more than prisoners teaching other prisoners to read. There is no budget for vocational training. So when a prisoner is finally released, he goes back to his old neighborhood broke, uneducated, and untrained.
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Saturday, April 30, 2016
The Unrepentant Torturers Even after the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence concluded, using primary source CIA documents, that torture did not work, that it did not produce any actionable intelligence, and that it did not save American lives (or anyone else's, frankly), some former CIA directors still cling to the fallacy that torture was a necessary program. Torture doesn't prevent terrorism, it causes it.
Saturday, April 30, 2016The Unrepentant Torturers Even after the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence concluded, using primary source CIA documents, that torture did not work, that it did not produce any actionable intelligence, and that it did not save American lives (or anyone else's, frankly), some former CIA directors still cling to the fallacy that torture was a necessary program. Torture doesn't prevent terrorism, it causes it.
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Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Forcing the Innocent to Plead Guilty, an American Disgrace It should be no surprise that innocent people are in prison as a result of pleading guilty to crimes they didn't commit. The work of the Brooklyn and Harris County district attorneys should be lauded. But innocent men and women shouldn't have to rely on the isolated prosecutor with a conscience for justice. Justice should mean justice.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016Forcing the Innocent to Plead Guilty, an American Disgrace It should be no surprise that innocent people are in prison as a result of pleading guilty to crimes they didn't commit. The work of the Brooklyn and Harris County district attorneys should be lauded. But innocent men and women shouldn't have to rely on the isolated prosecutor with a conscience for justice. Justice should mean justice.
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Thursday, April 14, 2016
Clapper Backs Congress Down Again, Feinstein Helps The CIA has proven over the decades that it needs adult supervision. Otherwise, CIA officers and leaders will seek to get away with whatever is possible, without thought to legality, ethics, or the wisdom of doing what they're doing. Congress has to stand up.
Thursday, April 14, 2016Clapper Backs Congress Down Again, Feinstein Helps The CIA has proven over the decades that it needs adult supervision. Otherwise, CIA officers and leaders will seek to get away with whatever is possible, without thought to legality, ethics, or the wisdom of doing what they're doing. Congress has to stand up.
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Tuesday, April 12, 2016
My Lunch With an FBI Whistleblower, Not Yet Out A potential whistleblower can go through the chain of command and likely be charged with crimes, he can go to the press and likely be charged with crimes, or he can keep his mouth shut. There are no alternatives. And until Congress recognizes the patent unfairness of the current system, other good and patriotic men and women will be ruined for doing the right thing.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016My Lunch With an FBI Whistleblower, Not Yet Out A potential whistleblower can go through the chain of command and likely be charged with crimes, he can go to the press and likely be charged with crimes, or he can keep his mouth shut. There are no alternatives. And until Congress recognizes the patent unfairness of the current system, other good and patriotic men and women will be ruined for doing the right thing.
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Thursday, April 7, 2016
Ohio Proves It: Rehabilitation Works Ohio hired psychologists and social workers, improved medical care, broadened career and technical opportunities, and did away with solitary confinement. Ohio's focus moved from prosecution and incarceration to rehabilitation and reform. And it worked. This is a lesson for all of us. Rehabilitation works. It's hard, and it takes time. But it works.
Thursday, April 7, 2016Ohio Proves It: Rehabilitation Works Ohio hired psychologists and social workers, improved medical care, broadened career and technical opportunities, and did away with solitary confinement. Ohio's focus moved from prosecution and incarceration to rehabilitation and reform. And it worked. This is a lesson for all of us. Rehabilitation works. It's hard, and it takes time. But it works.
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Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Anti-Muslim Rage, a Triumph of Ignorance Over Education On one hand, the problem is obvious. The United States is a country in which anti-Muslim prejudice is rampant. On the other hand, it's a much deeper problem than meets the eye. Americans as a people are, by and large, inexcusably ignorant of other cultures.
Wednesday, April 6, 2016Anti-Muslim Rage, a Triumph of Ignorance Over Education On one hand, the problem is obvious. The United States is a country in which anti-Muslim prejudice is rampant. On the other hand, it's a much deeper problem than meets the eye. Americans as a people are, by and large, inexcusably ignorant of other cultures.
