Politics may be win-win, but CIA, American people lose

I was glad to see that many fellow Long Islanders were as outraged as I was over the decision by the Scottish government to give Pan Am Flight 103 bomber Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi a “compassionate release” from jail.

We must continue to remain vigilant because this issue will not rest until al-Megrahi is rotting in hell.

I’d like to bring to your attention another item that is really making my blood boil. In April, in response to whether the Obama administration would open a criminal investigation into the interrogation tactics used by CIA agents during the Bush years, Attorney General Eric Holder said, “It would be unfair to prosecute dedicated men and women working to protect America for conduct that was sanctioned in advance by the Justice Department.” Now, in an obvious political maneuver, the Justice Department will reopen the old cases of alleged abuse and appoint yet another special prosecutor.

This decision comes after the American Civil Liberties Union won a court order for the release of a 2004 CIA report, half of which was released last year. Contained in this document was a detailed description of CIA interrogation techniques used after Sept. 11, 2001, through 2003.

The question being raised is whether some of the methods used by CIA interrogators on prisoners were within legal guidelines and warrant a criminal inquiry. Critics argue that the interrogations went too far.

U.S. Rep. Peter King, ranking Republican on the House Committee on Homeland Security and a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, was not shy about expressing his outrage. He called Holder’s decision a “declaration of war against the CIA, and against common sense.”

Intelligence gained from these interrogations proved vital to the security of our country following the 9/11 attacks.

Let’s not forget that in 2000, we lost 17 sailors and 31 were injured in the attack on the USS Cole. Now, almost 10 years later, the Justice Department has decided to prosecute the actions of the CIA interrogators.

We’re talking about the most hardened of terrorists, the ringleaders of vicious attacks on the U.S. and its citizens. The New York Times referred to the CIA’s interrogations tactics as “inhuman.” What kind of treatment would they suggest for the mastermind of the terror attack on the Cole?

If we’re really going to unleash special prosecutors and measure every ounce of water that was supposedly used to waterboard a terrorist, we will be making a mockery of our country. Should we be subscribing to a code of ethics that our enemies laugh at and violate regularly? That’s absurd.

What disturbs me even more is that we’re allowing politics to influence our security policies. Do you really think that the attorney general made this decision without consulting with the White House? Of course not. I think that the political arm of the White House, including David Axelrod, decided this was an opportunity to appease the left wing of the party — those who were angered because the president indicated that he might not push for the public option in the health care reform bill.

The most cynical part of this diabolical scenario is that in the end, the president will pardon all those who are accused or may stand accused of violating the law, thereby gaining the political support from the center right. In plain old politics, that’s called a win-win. You can satisfy the left and bring them back home with the investigation and make the center right happy with the pardons.

This is cynicism at it worst. We allowed politics to cloud our judgment, and we failed to consider the effects of making America and its intelligence agencies the laughingstock of the world. Once more we will look like we’re appeasing the jihadists and are nothing more than a paper tiger.

Shame on our attorney general and shame on you, Mr. President, for not curtailing what will become a public debacle focused on one of our most important institutions, which is dedicated to protecting the life and well- being of the people of the U.S.

Foreign policy has always commanded a bipartisan approach. Even when there were differences, our intelligence agencies were never used as political scapegoats. It’s too bad that politics has now entered the one arena that traditionally was off limits to partisan political attacks. This attack on the CIA by America’s own Justice Department demonstrates a new low in political cronyism.

Al D’Amato, a former U.S. senator from New York, is the founder of Park Strategies LLC, a public policy and business development firm. He writes weekly for the Herald on topics of local and national interest. Comments about this column? ADAmato@liherald.com.