Sunday, March 30, 2008

Meet The Press: CIA needs liability insurance for obeying the law?

It's called CYA!

Crooks and Liars:

CIA Director Michael Hayden appeared on Meet The Press this morning and explained to Tim Russert that he has recently urged his CIA employees to buy liability insurance in order to protect them against any lawsuits that may challenge the legality of their legal acts. Got that? Yea, me neither.

The Associated Press
has more. It’s pretty clear that the CIA just wants to cover it’s ass once the DoJ comes to the conclusion that “enhanced interrogation techniques” really just means “illegal torture.” It’s a shame that the CIA, who really does (for better or worse) important work around the world, is put in such a precarious situation by this lawless administration.

4 comments:

airJackie said...

Now this is interesting and something I really have never seen before. An employee is given orders to torture by the CIA and they have to get insurance coverage for obeying a criminal law. Should the Director who gave the order because the responsible person to take the blame. Now will I finally get to see Porter Goss again. Torture is illegal both by the United States and United Nations ask McCain.

SPB your saying our White House and Director of the CIA ordered a crime to be committed and hold no liability but those employees are liable? If I order my daughter to rob the bank and she does who is charged with the crime. Since she robbed the bank and I didn't I just told her what to do so I shouldn't be charged with a crime. I think this should be looked into by my little angel because if true everything I learned in college is wrong.

KittyBowTie1 said...

Actually, liability insurance is not that big of a deal. Even K-12 teachers get it just in case they get sued. Let's say Johnny in kindergarten is allergic to peanuts but some kid's parent brings brownies to school that have peanuts, Johnny has one and forgot to ask what's in the brownies, Johnny gets sick, and Johnny's mommy sues. . . . Now just who will Johnny's mommy sue? The teacher and the school.

As far as I'm concerned, Johnny's teacher didn't even do anything illegal but we live in the Nanny State now where no one is responsible for their own actions, so you bet Johnny's teacher will get sued.

If I was a kindergarten teacher, I'd certainly get liability insurance.

airJackie said...

So true Mr. Kitty but remember these CIA agents are going to be charged with Torture.

Mr. Kitty unlike your examples of the school teaches from K-12. Let's see what laws the US has against torture.
U.S. and International Standards Against Torture. United States Bill of Rights (1789)
1948 Geneva Convertion Law made torture a crime and punished under the United Nations.

So Mr. Kitty I really don't think the CIA agents are worried only about being sued but charged in the US and Internationally.

KittyBowTie1 said...

I'll bet a bag of Iams that the U.S. won't let a CIA agent get tried at The Hague for anything.