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I would like to take this moment to point out that John Kiriakou is doing an Indiegogo campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-whistleblower-who-won-t

I would like to take this moment to point out that John Kiriakou is doing an Indiegogo campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-whistleblower-who-won-t-be-silenced#/story https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-whistleblower-who-won... It's because of people like him that we know about this at all. He put his life on the line for us. Only he was imprisoned. The torturers [1,2] are still free. Until there are consequences to torture it will continue to happen, and Kiriakou's sacrifice will be in vain. Think about what the pizza delivery man has done for you, and compare that to what Kiriakou did for us all. Consider sending him a monetary thank you for his service to you, to our country, and to humanity. I did. [1] http://www.ibtimes.com/who-cia-torture-report-george-tenet-hassan-ghul-6-other-names-know-senates-1745209 http://www.ibtimes.com/who-cia-torture-report-george-tenet-h... [2] http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/12/12/15221/whos-responsible-cias-torture-policy http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/12/12/15221/whos-respons...

fnordfnordfnord 11y ago
My word. That is embarrassing. This guy spent years in prison on our behalf, and his campaign is getting nowhere.
- itistoday2 11y ago
  Well, we can all chip in to help move it forward. Behavior like his should be rewarded, and the behavior of those he outed should be punished. How else are we going to stop torture? To send Kiriakou $USD is to take real, meaningful action against torture. There is something to be said for doing good for goodness sake, but wouldn't it be great if people knew that honorable behavior could also be rewarding in both senses of the word?
  - fnordfnordfnord 11y ago
    To Twitter! and Friendface!
- meowface 11y ago
  I never thought I'd say this, but I'm going to (partly) side with the CIA here. He was not charged due to his reveal of CIA torture in the form of waterboarding. http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/capitalcomment/local-news/john-kiriakou-cia-officer-turned-whistleblower-shares-his-story.php http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/capitalcomment/local-news... >Months after the ABC interview, a reporter working on a book about the CIA’s rendition practices asked Kiriakou to confirm the name of a covert officer. The book was never published, but the reporter passed the name to an investigator who worked for lawyers defending Guantánamo detainees. Radack maintains that the operative’s name was already an open secret among journalists and human-rights advocates. Revealing the name of a covert agent can jeopardize their life and the lives of others. The claim that it's an "open secret" doesn't exactly hold water (being an oxymoron and all). >John. A. Rizzo, a former lawyer at the Agency, says: “My sense is [Kiriakou] is not a bad man. But he did a bad thing and a stupid thing. The bad thing is that he disclosed the name of at least one covert CIA operative to a reporter via e-mail. The stupid thing is that he lied to the FBI about having done so. These are not trivial criminal offenses.” Kiriakou alleges that his prosecution was retaliation for his leaking of the CIA's waterboarding tactics. And that's certainly possible. Waterboarding is wrong, and I do think he was in the right for admitting that the CIA used waterboarding. But if you reveal the name of someone undercover, you should be aware of the consequences. He served 23 months for leaking the name and for perjuring himself, which doesn't seem unreasonable.
  - dempseye 11y ago
    Why do you care about the safety of a torturer?
  - itistoday2 11y ago
    > Revealing the name of a covert agent can jeopardize their life and the lives of others. The claim that it's an "open secret" doesn't exactly hold water (being an oxymoron and all). He did not leak the name of just any random agent, but the name of an agent directly involved in the torture program: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/us/ex-officer-for-cia-is-sentenced-in-leak-case.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/us/ex-officer-for-cia-is-s... > In October, Mr. Kiriakou pleaded guilty to one charge of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act when he disclosed to a reporter the name of an agency officer who had been involved in the C.I.A.’s program to hold and interrogate detainees. Edward Snowden knowingly intentionally leaked thousands/millions of classified intelligence documents to reporters. What do both of these men have in common? They both worked for a government that refused to hold its own criminals accountable. From http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/us/former-cia-officer-pleads-guilty-in-leak-case.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/us/former-cia-officer-plea... > In 2010, Justice Department officials overruled a recommendation by its ethics office to sanction for professional misconduct the Bush-era lawyers who wrote those memos, and decided not to charge C.I.A. officials for destroying interrogation videotapes. Then in August, Mr. Holder announced that no one would be prosecuted for the deaths of a prisoner in Afghanistan in 2002 and another in Iraq in 2003, eliminating the last possibility of criminal charges by officials who carried out brutal interrogations in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. And let me check http://www.hasjamesclapperbeenindictedyet.com http://www.hasjamesclapperbeenindictedyet.com .... still showing "NO". And that's for a man who is taped on YouTube as having committed perjury before congress! When the government refuses to obey the law it is saying that there are two laws: one for them, and one for us. Under these circumstances what are you supposed to do? The definition of a whistleblower is someone who finds themselves in such circumstances. Ethically responsible government employees have no choice but to go outside the system so that the criminals within the system have some shred of a chance of being held accountable. Without names there is no accountability, and without accountability the government will continue to commit crimes with impunity.
mcherm 11y ago
Thank you for bringing this up and making the request. I made a contribution, and asked others to do the same.

fnordfnordfnord 11y ago

My word. That is embarrassing. This guy spent years in prison on our behalf, and his campaign is getting nowhere.

itistoday2 11y ago
Well, we can all chip in to help move it forward. Behavior like his should be rewarded, and the behavior of those he outed should be punished. How else are we going to stop torture? To send Kiriakou $USD is to take real, meaningful action against torture. There is something to be said for doing good for goodness sake, but wouldn't it be great if people knew that honorable behavior could also be rewarding in both senses of the word?
- fnordfnordfnord 11y ago
  To Twitter! and Friendface!
meowface 11y ago
I never thought I'd say this, but I'm going to (partly) side with the CIA here. He was not charged due to his reveal of CIA torture in the form of waterboarding. http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/capitalcomment/local-news/john-kiriakou-cia-officer-turned-whistleblower-shares-his-story.php http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/capitalcomment/local-news... >Months after the ABC interview, a reporter working on a book about the CIA’s rendition practices asked Kiriakou to confirm the name of a covert officer. The book was never published, but the reporter passed the name to an investigator who worked for lawyers defending Guantánamo detainees. Radack maintains that the operative’s name was already an open secret among journalists and human-rights advocates. Revealing the name of a covert agent can jeopardize their life and the lives of others. The claim that it's an "open secret" doesn't exactly hold water (being an oxymoron and all). >John. A. Rizzo, a former lawyer at the Agency, says: “My sense is [Kiriakou] is not a bad man. But he did a bad thing and a stupid thing. The bad thing is that he disclosed the name of at least one covert CIA operative to a reporter via e-mail. The stupid thing is that he lied to the FBI about having done so. These are not trivial criminal offenses.” Kiriakou alleges that his prosecution was retaliation for his leaking of the CIA's waterboarding tactics. And that's certainly possible. Waterboarding is wrong, and I do think he was in the right for admitting that the CIA used waterboarding. But if you reveal the name of someone undercover, you should be aware of the consequences. He served 23 months for leaking the name and for perjuring himself, which doesn't seem unreasonable.
- dempseye 11y ago
  Why do you care about the safety of a torturer?
- itistoday2 11y ago
  > Revealing the name of a covert agent can jeopardize their life and the lives of others. The claim that it's an "open secret" doesn't exactly hold water (being an oxymoron and all). He did not leak the name of just any random agent, but the name of an agent directly involved in the torture program: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/us/ex-officer-for-cia-is-sentenced-in-leak-case.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/us/ex-officer-for-cia-is-s... > In October, Mr. Kiriakou pleaded guilty to one charge of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act when he disclosed to a reporter the name of an agency officer who had been involved in the C.I.A.’s program to hold and interrogate detainees. Edward Snowden knowingly intentionally leaked thousands/millions of classified intelligence documents to reporters. What do both of these men have in common? They both worked for a government that refused to hold its own criminals accountable. From http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/us/former-cia-officer-pleads-guilty-in-leak-case.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/us/former-cia-officer-plea... > In 2010, Justice Department officials overruled a recommendation by its ethics office to sanction for professional misconduct the Bush-era lawyers who wrote those memos, and decided not to charge C.I.A. officials for destroying interrogation videotapes. Then in August, Mr. Holder announced that no one would be prosecuted for the deaths of a prisoner in Afghanistan in 2002 and another in Iraq in 2003, eliminating the last possibility of criminal charges by officials who carried out brutal interrogations in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. And let me check http://www.hasjamesclapperbeenindictedyet.com http://www.hasjamesclapperbeenindictedyet.com .... still showing "NO". And that's for a man who is taped on YouTube as having committed perjury before congress! When the government refuses to obey the law it is saying that there are two laws: one for them, and one for us. Under these circumstances what are you supposed to do? The definition of a whistleblower is someone who finds themselves in such circumstances. Ethically responsible government employees have no choice but to go outside the system so that the criminals within the system have some shred of a chance of being held accountable. Without names there is no accountability, and without accountability the government will continue to commit crimes with impunity.

mcherm 11y ago

Thank you for bringing this up and making the request. I made a contribution, and asked others to do the same.