Soap Box

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I watched Dianne Feinstein on the floor of the Senate as she gave a summary of a five-year, forty million dollar report that really made America look like something out of the Middle Ages, complete with dungeons and hooded torturers.

She tried to cloak herself in an "America is better than that, and the people deserve the truth" mantra, but what she was doing was so blatantly political that she might as well have been making a campaign speech.

While I agree that America is a far better nation than the ones who decapitate people on video tape and resort to all kinds of physical torture as a matter of course, without conscience or remorse, but I think that in evaluating the situation we should harken back to 2001 after 3000 innocent Americans had died at the hands of people we knew very little about, who flew no flag, claimed allegiance to an ideology instead of a country and we had no idea how many more attacks were planned or where or how they would take place.

America was in a state of confusion, scared, mad and seeking revenge. And if you could have taken a survey during that time I believe that 9/10ths of Americans would not have cared if the entire membership of al-Qaeda had their testicles hooked to the transformers at the Hoover Dam if it would lead to information that would stop further attacks to the homeland.

Furthermore Ms. Feinstein seems to have no regard for thousands of American lives around the world she has put in jeopardy or the droves of new recruits ISIS will enlist because of her reckless actions.

She has singlehandedly hog tied the CIA who, by the way, vehemently disagree with this report (the methods were even defended � to a degree - by Obama�s CIA head, John Brennan), and was put together totally by Democrats without even interviewing the persons who would have been able to refute their claim that the enhanced interrogation techniques did not provide information that foiled other attacks and saved countless American lives.

She has, at the very least, further eroded the trust of our allies and emboldened the crazies in the Middle East who are experts at exploiting American weaknesses, and over the last six years, there have been plenty to exploit.

Ms. Feinstein's claim that she just wants America to know the truth stops way short of holding Eric Holder, Lois Lerner and Susan Rice to the same standard or admitting that her president told the American people several bald faces lies about Obamacare.

Anybody with enough gray matter to close a door realizes that what Feinstein did was one last slap at George W. Bush before the Democrats lost power in the Senate.

I believe in government oversight and I do not believe that torture should be a standard tool in an intelligence agency's arsenal, but looking back to the desperate days right after 9/11 I can understand the need for immediate information and the out of bounds methods employed to get it.

The same Senators who so glibly condemn the CIA and our other intelligence entities now, were exerting terrific pressure on them to find answers and were willing to turn their heads, nod and wink and not ask questions about how it was gathered. 

Now, for something as shallow as making a few points with a political base, many years after the heat of battle, the Democrats have spent forty million taxpayer dollars to re-inform the world about things we already knew.

I was in Germany when the Abu Graib story broke and CNN International gave it twenty-four hours a day coverage, and in doing so seemed to be making an effort to paint all American troops as heartless mercenaries.

That's the picture they presented to the world and I can't imagine the field day they're having with this one.

In my humble opinion, intelligence business should be conducted behind closed doors to prevent the kind of grandstanding Ms. Feinstein engaged in.

At the end of the day, what has she accomplished?

Was any new information revealed?

Were both sides of the story told?

Now what will be the fallout?

I'm sure we'll find out shortly.

P.S. I know that somebody will ask me about Senator John McCain and the remarks he made on the Senate floor after Senator Feinstein finished, and will assume I won�t mention him because he's got an �R� next to his name.

I will always admire and be grateful to Senator McCain for his service and what he has suffered for this nation, but I disagree with him quite often.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops and the peace of Jerusalem.

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels