The Oval OfficeIn Obama's Inner Circle, Debate Over Memos' Release Was Intense -- Washington Post
Some Feared That a Partisan Outcry Could Obstruct Larger Agenda
As President Obama met with top advisers on the evening of April 15, he faced one of the sharpest policy divides of his young administration.
Five CIA directors -- including Leon E. Panetta and his four immediate predecessors -- and Obama's top counterterrorism adviser had expressed firm opposition to the release of interrogation details in four "top secret" memos in which Bush administration lawyers sanctioned harsh tactics.
On the other side of the issue were Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair and White House counsel Gregory B. Craig, whose colleagues during the campaign recall him expressing enthusiasm for fixing U.S. detainee policy.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates had said he supported the disclosures because he saw the information's release as inevitable and because the White House was willing to promise that CIA officers would not be prosecuted for any abuse. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen sided with Gates.
Read more ....
My Comment: To release or not to release .... it appears that the White House debate centered on politics, and how this release would impact their overall agenda. When the decision was finally made .... the decision was done purely for politics .... national security be damned.
I posted a few weeks ago that President Obama was not going to release the memos .... that it would not only jeopardize national security, but it would also open the door for the politicization of national security. In short .... I said that President Obama was smart enough to keep Pandora's box closed.
I was wrong.
Pandora's Box is now open, with only years of Congressional investigations and legal battles that will not only damage national security (as predicted), but it will also set a precedent in which political parties can then use the legal process to attack their opponents and/or their philosophies.
Not surprisingly .... a released Rasmussen poll clearly states that 58% of respondents say release of the CIA Memos endangers National Security. The American people understand the consequences of what has happened this past week .... I can only hope that President Obama has figured this out also.