“The program remains classified, and those knowledgeable about it would describe it only vaguely yesterday. Several current and former administration officials called it an “on-again, off-again” attempt to create a new intelligence capability and said it was related to the collection of information on suspected terrorists that was instituted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Congressional Republicans said no briefing about the program was required because it was not a major tool used against al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. They accused Democrats of using the matter to divert attention away from Pelosi's accusation that CIA officials intentionally misled her in 2002 about the agency's interrogations of suspected terrorists.

Current and former administration officials familiar with the program said it was not directly related to previously disclosed high-priority programs such as detainee interrogations or the warrantless surveillance of suspected terrorists on U.S. soil. It was a intelligence-collection activity run by the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, officials said. It was not a covert action, which by law would have required a presidential finding and a report to Congress.

“This characterization of something that began in 2001 and continued uninterrupted for eight years is just wrong. Honest men would question that characterization. It was more off and on,” said a former top Bush administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the issue. “

Is this a redirected Bush-Cheney-hating psychosis?

If true, was it also classified info improperly released?

Notice that the public (rightly) isn't currently Alarmed (D).

“Republicans largely played down Mr. Panetta’s disclosure, saying the failure to brief the committees was unfortunate but not a major lapse because the program in question never got beyond the planning stage.

“If they’d done this thing and hadn’t told us about it, I’d be screaming from the tallest building in Washington,” Mr. Hoekstra said. “But it was on-again, off-again and never happened.”

Ms. Eshoo strongly disagreed with that assessment. She said that whatever the status of the program over the eight years of the Bush administration, the failure to brief Congress may have violated the law requiring that Congress be kept informed of intelligence activities.

“The whole committee was stunned” by what Mr. Panetta disclosed at the June 24 briefing, Ms. Eshoo said. “I think this is as serious as it gets.”

Ms. Eshoo said she would urge the entire committee to investigate the matter.“We have to know who ordered the program, where did the money come from and who gave the order not to inform Congress,” she said.”

I think conservatives are surprisingly credulous of CIA considering their distrust of government in most other matters. Remember that for all the billions spent during the cold war, and with all the patriotic defenses of CIA, just like you hear today, we had NO secrets. The guy with ultimate clearance, Aldrich Ames, sold every secret we had to the Russians. We're fools to forgot this, and fools not to keep a VERY close watch on everyone involved. Not investigating dishonesty in the CIA is deadly.

What happened to the head rapist in Algeria? Did they put him in charge of the womens section of one of their unacknowledged “black prisons” that everyone in the world except the MSM in the US knows about. That would be par for the course of their “honor.”

Since the facts of the charge cannot be made public, what practical good of the nation is served to make the letter public?

If these were people actually intent on righting a wrong, they would handle the matter to conclusion behind closed doors as opposed to merely seeking to swiftboat in the press ahead of time.

What you suggest would destroy our intelligence gathering agency, which is already damaged by this partisan bickering.

I should have made that point

But, I have to agree, I trust Mr. Panetta's judgment more than any recent CIA Director's

Dorian

Question is what….

Dems refuse to investigate.

That leads me to believe that they were told a lot more than what they want to admit too.

Think about it

IF congress new about the torture programs then the CIA certainly new. So which CIA chief do we prosecute? The one that did the crime and is now a private citizen or the one now that is merely trying to protect and rebuild our agency?

If the CIA did these things then I believe the former President knew it and lead people to believe as much in his speeches. Again which President do we persecute? The President that perpetuated the crime and now is gone or the new President trying to rebuild after all the damage has been done? Maybe there is also a Vice President involved? Others?

However, if TRUTH means truly damaging our agency, or, getting our people killed, etc., so that Nancy Pelosi can save face because she can’t watch her big mouth, then screw Nancy Pelosi.

I choose to listen to Leon Panetta in this circumstance. His only possible motive must be honorable.

My first impression is that CIA did not lie and members of Congress are trying to cover up what they really knew about our torture programs.