Why would they declassify this?

[AKPirate]

The Senate Intelligence Committee voted Thursday for the public release of key parts of a report on the notorious CIA detention and interrogation program launched after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

A final decision on declassifying the information now rests with the White House, and it was unclear how long such a process would take.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said the panel she leads voted 11-3 in a closed-door session to declassify the 480-page executive summary and 20 findings and conclusions of the five-year study.

Feinstein called the report's findings "shocking," saying it "exposes brutality that stands in stark contrast to our values as a nation."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/03/politics/senate-cia-report/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[The Duck Hammer]

To cause a stink. No other reason for them to do it other than that.

[capt1972]

To cause a stink. No other reason for them to do it other than that.

[AKPirate]

[assateague]

I'm not even certain that they can do that. Or that he can do that. To the best of my knowledge, the only one who can declassify something is the classification authority. In this case, the CIA. So let's say a bunch of Senators want something declassified. They can't pass a bill, demand it be done, or say "it's not classified". Nor can the president. They have to file a request for declassification with the agency who classified the original document, and the ONLY one who can say yes or no is that agency. Not congress, not the president, nobody. If the original classification authority says no, the one who wanted it to be clear can appeal it to some board somewhere, but I'm not sure who. I think it's agency heads, but I know who it isn't- the president or congress. I would routinely stamp decl requests "no" and send them back, without even reading them. I wasn't gonna be the one on the hook for any bad shit that happened because of it. There's a "declassify date" line on documents, and we used to be able to simply enter "DECL OADR", which stood for "Declassification: Originating Authority Determination Required", but that became unnecessary more than a few years back, when it became the rule that the one who classified it had to declass it. So Pelosi and whomever may go pound sand. The only way around this is the 25 year rule. Everything which is classified has a drop dead date 25 years from the original date. At that point, it must be reviewed (by the agency who originally classified it) and decide if it needs to stay secret or not. If they forget to do this, then it loses it's classification at that point. So fuck Congress, and the president, too. I don't know why we even have laws if they can ignore them as they please.


Which isn't to say it won't happen, anyway.

[AKPirate]

I'm not even certain that they can do that. Or that he can do that. To the best of my knowledge, the only one who can declassify something is the classification authority. In this case, the CIA. So let's say a bunch of Senators want something declassified. They can't pass a bill, demand it be done, or say "it's not classified". Nor can the president. They have to file a request for declassification with the agency who classified the original document, and the ONLY one who can say yes or no is that agency. Not congress, not the president, nobody. If the original classification authority says no, the one who wanted it to be clear can appeal it to some board somewhere, but I'm not sure who. I think it's agency heads, but I know who it isn't- the president or congress. I would routinely stamp decl requests "no" and send them back, without even reading them. I wasn't gonna be the one on the hook for any bad shit that happened because of it. There's a "declassify date" line on documents, and we used to be able to simply enter "DECL OADR", which stood for "Declassification: Originating Authority Determination Required", but that became unnecessary more than a few years back, when it became the rule that the one who classified it had to declass it. So Pelosi and whomever may go pound sand. The only way around this is the 25 year rule. Everything which is classified has a drop dead date 25 years from the original date. At that point, it must be reviewed (by the agency who originally classified it) and decide if it needs to stay secret or not. If they forget to do this, then it loses it's classification at that point. So fuck Congress, and the president, too. I don't know why we even have laws if they can ignore them as they please.


Which isn't to say it won't happen, anyway.

Well said. It points out that the leadership needs to change too.

[waterfowlman]

The current administration has absolutely no regard for any of our country's laws.

[RonE]

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said the panel she leads voted 11-3 in a closed-door session to declassify the 480-page executive summary and 20 findings and conclusions of the five-year study.

Leave it to that crunt to report the details of a "closed session" rather than just the results.

[assateague]

OK, I'll say it again- you cannot just "vote" to declassify something. Period.

[RonE]

OK, I'll say it again- you cannot just "vote" to declassify something. Period.

Heard you the first time and I'm not arguing with that.

[assateague]

I was talking to Congress, not you Ron

[RonE]

I was talking to Congress, not you Ron

Well, at least I listen, does congress?