Obama’s Growing Dilemma on Torture Prosecution

Less than a day after President Barack Obama told CIA employees in person that he didn’t support prosecuting them for the harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects, he left open the possibility that those who drafted the legal opinions justifying such questionable techniques could end up facing charges. The surprising statement marked just the latest step in Obama’s evolving view of the Bush Administration’s handling of terrorism cases, and it underscored the fine line he is navigating in his stated commitments to uphold the rule of law and at the same time move beyond the divisive Bush years

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Did Waterboarding Prevent Terrorism Attacks?

In the wake of the release of the CIA torture memos, the Obama Administration already has its hands full with critics on the left who want senior Bush Administration officials prosecuted for the use of harsh interrogation techniques like water boarding. But thanks to former Vice President Dick Cheney, it has to deal with a different line of attack from the right. The growing chorus claims the Administration selectively chose which CIA memos to declassify, deliberately holding back documents that show “the success of the effort…specifically what we gained as a result of this activity,” as Cheney put it in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity Monday.

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Scientists Claim CIA Misused Work on Sleep Deprivation

German and French researchers whose work has been cited by the CIA and the Justice Department to help justify the legality of harsh interrogation techniques, including prolonged sleep deprivation, condemned the Bush Administration on Tuesday for misusing their scientific findings. “It is total nonsense to cite our study in this context,” said Dr.

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Obama: Summit of the Americas ‘productive’

President Obama said Sunday the 34-nation Summit of the Americas was a "very productive" meeting that proved hemispheric progress is possible if countries set aside "stale debates and old ideologies." Speaking to reporters at the conclusion of the summit, Obama cited a potential thaw in relations between the United States and longtime adversaries Cuba and Venezuela, but said the ultimate test “is not simply words, but deeds.” Leaders did not “see eye to eye” on some important issues, but the meeting proved it is possible to “disagree respectfully,” the president said. Obama highlighted the importance of using American diplomacy and development aid in “more intelligent ways.” He reached out to the Cuban government before the summit by lifting all restrictions on U.S.

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Ex-CIA chief: Obama risks national security

A former head of the CIA slammed President Obama on Sunday for releasing four Bush-era memos, saying the new president has compromised national security. Michael Hayden, who served as former President Bush’s last CIA director from 2006 to 2009, said releasing the memos outlining terror interrogation methods emboldened terrorist groups such as al Qaeda. “What we have described for our enemies in the midst of a war are the outer limits that any American would ever go to in terms of interrogating an al Qaeda terrorist

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Mortgage Fraud Crackdown Is Gathering Steam in Florida

Florida’s Gulf Coast was crawling with shady real estate investors like Neil Husani during this decade’s housing boom. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Tampa, Husani and three co-conspirators working with his Sarasota-based Capital Force, Inc., bilked seven area banks out of $83 million in a mortgage fraud scheme.

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