Friday, July 17, 2009

Admire the Plastic

The whole "Bush plotted to kill al Qaeda leaders" plastic turkey scandal truly is made of the finest plastics available to our Left:


The statute in question, 50 USC 413b, requires the administration to disclose many covert activities to Congress, but the same statute specifically allows the administration to withhold such information when disclosure would not be "consistent with due regard for the protection from unauthorized disclosure of classified information relating to sensitive intelligence sources and methods or other exceptionally sensitive matters." Thus, even assuming that the alleged CIA program had reached the stage of development that might implicate the statute, the statue itself allows for nondisclosure.

Furthermore, the statute commits the disclosure/nondisclosure decision to the president, not Congress (to say nothing of left-wing activists). Under Section 413b(c), the president ensures that disclosure is made when possible; when immediate disclosure is impossible, the president should disclose the information "in timely fashion" and with appropriate justification for the delay.


Huh, Congress authorized the president to determine whether he should fill in Congress on our efforts.

Let the Congressional investigations begin!