CIA Tape Destruction Looks Like Obstruction of Justice

CIA Director Michael Hayden has defended the destruction of videotapes that show the interrogations of two alleged terrorists saying that it was done to protect the identities of the interrogators. He earlier said that the tapes were made to add a further layer of legal protection for the interrogators who were using “enhanced” techniques. Either the tapes were to protect the CIA men or they posed a danger to them. Mr. Hayden can’t have it both ways. This whole episode is starting to look like obstruction of justice.

The video tapes in question showed the interrogations of Abu Zubaydah, an alleged 9/11 planner, and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged mastermind of the 2000 bombing of the destroyer USS Cole in Aden. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) wondered on “Face the Nation” yesterday, “Were there things on those tapes that they didn't want to have seen, that didn't conform to what the attorney general would allow them to do?”

If so, destroying the tapes was destroying evidence of a crime. If not, the tapes still might be unpleasant viewing, and they might have been an embarrassment to the government if they ever became public. Moreover, they would be a gift to Al Qaeda’s recruiting department. So, Mr. Hayden will address this issue tomorrow in Senate hearings where he can “address questions that have arisen over the destruction back in 2005 of videotapes.”

Senator Joe Biden (D-DE), who’s running for president, wants the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor. Senator Biden doesn’t trust Attorney General Michael Mukasey on this matter, “He's the same guy who couldn't decide whether or not waterboarding was torture and he's going to be doing this investigation.” Senator Rockefeller would rather keep everything in front of Congress.

Either way, Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) hit the nail on the head when he said, “It's hard for me to believe that senior members of the White House somehow didn't pay attention to this or didn't know about it.” So, one is left with the Howard Baker question from the Watergate hearings, “What did the president know and when did he know it?”

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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