The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
September 21, 2009

Ex-CIA Chiefs Calls for Torture Probe to Be Dropped
---------------------------------------------------



President Obama said Sunday he will not interfere with Attorney General
Eric Holder’s decision to launch a Justice Department probe into the
torture of prisoners during the Bush administration. Obama’s comments
came in response to a letter from seven former CIA chiefs calling for
the probe to be dropped. They claimed the investigation would inhibit
intelligence operations in the future and demoralize agency employees.
President Obama addressed the controversy during an interview with Bob
Schieffer on CBS’s Face the Nation.

President Obama: “Well, first of all, I have the utmost respect for the
CIA. I have said consistently that I want to look forward and not
backward, when it comes to some of the problems that occurred under the
previous administration or when it came to interrogations. I don’t want
witch hunts taking place. I’ve also said, though, that the Attorney
General has a job to uphold the law.”

Bob Schieffer: “So you intend to let him go forward?”

Obama: “He’s got to make a judgment in terms of what has occurred.”



.