MOSCOW. (Narek Seferjan for RIA Novosti) - A scandal has broken out in the United States over another declassified report on the CIA's tough methods of interrogation of suspected terrorists. This report was kept secret for five years.
Strange as it may seem, but Dick Cheney, a high-ranking official of the George W. Bush administration, was one of the initiators of its publication. Apparently, the former vice president wanted to show how effectively the CIA worked after the 9/11 attacks.
But the expectations of the Republican Cheney did not fully materialize. His intention had hardly been to smear the CIA. The Democrats did not want this either, but they brilliantly used Cheney's idea against his former boss's administration.
For the first time, this scandal over interrogation methods played into Barrack Obama's hand a year before the elections, when the Democrats were not doing that well. John McCain left his rival far behind and was confidently preparing for the decisive battles. The Democrats needed a serious trump. Obama's constant references to U.S. military setbacks in Iraq did not produce the desired effect any longer, and the Democrats opened a "second front." The destruction of taped tortures by the CIA was revealed and caused a scandal. According to available information, these tapes had existed but were destroyed for security reasons. The results exceeded all expectations. Since then illegal interrogation methods have surfaced whenever Obama's rating leaves much to be desired.
There is a clear link between the popularity of the U.S. president and new details of this scandal. Now the president's rating has fallen to a record low, which means that it is time to recall "the atrocities" of his predecessor's team. But this posing as a humanist has gone too far, and threatens to get out of control.
Back in April, Obama started making excuses. He said that in making a decision to allow the publication of more documents, he did not mean to "cast a shadow" on the Bush administration. But all his actions point to the contrary. If a major scandal breaks out, there should be someone to blame. In a democratic society, those who are guilty have to be punished accordingly, but this seems to be an exception.
Obama has already "covered" the CIA's agents. Secret service employees, who used tough methods of interrogating terrorist suspects but did not violate their instructions, will not be charged. Instructions allow for a broad interpretation in any intelligence office. The document in question allowed agents to use a whole number of tough interrogation methods such as slapping in the face, keeping in premises with limited movement area, forcing suspects to assume awkward positions, sleep deprivation, and so on and so forth.
Obama said more than once that when he is elected president such methods would not be used, even as regards terrorist suspects. What stands behind this behavior?
Obama is hardly trying to pose as a humane Democrat. Most probably, he wants to show to the American people and the rest of the world that his administration is different from the previous one. And, finally, there is one more important aspect. U.S. economy is still facing serious difficulties. Every new scandal is a good method of sidetracking voters from the economic crisis, which the Obama administration has not yet overcome.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
