Feinstein And Chambliss Let James Clapper Talk Them Out Of Requiring Transparency On The Administration's Drone Strikes

from the editing-the-pre-edited-version dept

It looks like the American public won't be getting any answers on the government's extrajudicial killings any time soon. An intelligence bill that passed the Senate late last year contained a stipulation requiring the administration to provide statistics on drone strikes, including number of combatants and noncombatants killed or injured in these strikes. That requirement has now been excised, thanks to the efforts of Sens. Feinstein and Chambliss and their buddy at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, as Spencer Ackerman reports.

[T]he Guardian has confirmed that Senate leaders have removed the language as they prepare to bring the bill to the floor for a vote, after the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, assured them in a recent letter that the Obama administration was looking for its own ways to disclose more about its highly controversial drone strikes.

“The executive branch is currently exploring ways in which it can provide the American people more information about the United States’ use of force outside areas of active hostilities,” Clapper wrote to the leaders of the Senate committee, Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California and Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, on 18 April.
CC'ed on the letter are the heads of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers and Dutch Ruppersberger. This decision wasn't in their hands, but even if it was, it wouldn't have played out any differently. Rogers, in particular, is a huge fan of the administration's drone work and has publicly lamented the fact that the slowly-turning wheels of bureaucracy are keeping the US from killing even more people.

Feinstein's relationship with drones is, of course, somewhat hypocritical. She feels there should be stricter regulations on commercial drone usage (partially prompted by a non-commercial drone appearing outside her house during a Code Pink anti-NSA protest) and seems generally opposed to drone surveillance. However, she does stand strongly behind the nation's counterterrorism efforts and believes killing people with drones (rather than just watching them) is more acceptable.

Even more oddly, despite her very public battle against the CIA over control of the so-called "Torture Report" (a battle also marked by a bouts of Feinstein hypocrisy), she's been very supportive of the agency's weaponized aircraft.
Feinstein has long been a defender of the CIA’s drone strikes. During a February 2013 confirmation hearing for CIA Director John Brennan, Feinstein stated that the CIA’s targeting procedures kills only “single digits” of civilians annually, an assertion that cannot be independently confirmed because of the official secrecy surrounding the strikes.
Even some intelligence officials have grudgingly agreed some transparency on this issue would be a positive step for the administration to take. But that number doesn't include James Clapper, whose unintentionally humorous letter asserts that the self-proclaimed "most transparent administration" is actively seeking ways to publicize drone strike numbers. Only in recent months has the administration even acknowledged there might be a downside to its drone strike program. There's been a rollback in the number of strikes and the administration did express its hesitance to kill American citizens with drones, even if they clearly were associating with known terrorists. But this hand-wringing was mostly about public relations and less about the reality of the situation -- that the US would have to piss off yet another country by blowing past its agreement with them to not engage in military strikes on its soil.

So, there's that. And all of that is indeed very little. For years, it's been even less, as Ackerman points out.
The sharing of even basic information about drone strikes has run into a wall of official secrecy. Several independent groups attempt to track the numbers of people killed in the strikes, but no official US confirmation has been possible.
For one obfuscation artists (Clapper) to claim another (the administration) will be taking the lead when it comes to transparency borders on farcical. Now that Senate intelligence heads have complied with Clapper's request, the intelligence community's accountability has been removed. This puts the whole thing in the administration's hands, which isn't really an improvement. I'm sure the current president has no desire to publicly announce his regime has been more deadly than his predecessor's, especially given Bush's proclivity for pushing military/surveillance solutions to the world's problems.

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Filed Under: dianne feinstein, drone strikes, james clapper, saxby chambliss, transparency


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  • icon
    Violynne (profile), 29 Apr 2014 @ 11:21am

    Can we please get her name right?!

    It's Frankenstein, not Feinstein.

    Because she's a horrible, horrible monster.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Ninja (profile), 29 Apr 2014 @ 11:30am

    Up to the point it won't be a pinky drone landing as protest, no?

    The executive thinks they are the rulers of the world and nothing should even slow them down. The legislative agrees. The justice system show very feeble efforts to question the Executive. Heck, close them all and go back to the monarchy.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    That One Guy (profile), 29 Apr 2014 @ 11:58am

    That was a close one

    The government almost ended up yet again having to laugh off an attempt to force them to tell the public something.

    Can you imagine what would have happened if that bit of the bill had been left in? The ones in charge of 'releasing' that information would have been insensible for likely minutes, laughing at the idea that they answered to the people, before ending with a chuckle and a response of 'National security, you get nothing.'

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 29 Apr 2014 @ 5:00pm

      Re: That was a close one

      Nothing...nothing but the "Most Transparent Administration" in history according to Jay Carney on April 17, 2014.

      MAJOR GARRETT: "The Obama administration came to Washington promising transparency. In your view, has the administration fallen short of this goal?"

      JAY CARNEY: "I think there's no question, I've covered the previous two administrations, and know a thing or two about ones before that, there has never been a more transparent administration..."

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        That One Guy (profile), 29 Apr 2014 @ 7:09pm

        Re: Re: That was a close one

        As people have pointed out, if by 'transparent' you take it to mean 'transparent about the corruption and contempt for the laws and rights of the people', then yes, this is one of the most 'transparent' administrations in US history.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    David, 29 Apr 2014 @ 12:14pm

    Well, if Clapper asserts transparency, we can be certain that he is delivering the least untruthful statement for getting his will.

    Really, the Mafia is not more openly cynical than the U.S. administration goodfellas.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      zip, 29 Apr 2014 @ 12:42pm

      Re:

      James Clapper is only "least untruthful" when he is talking under oath, sworn to tell the truth. -- and presumably under threat of jail if he doesn't.

      In this case, he was not under oath -- so he is free to lie with abandon.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        myperbole (profile), 29 Apr 2014 @ 3:49pm

        Re: Re:

        Give credit where credit is due: Clapper lied in a letter this time, not straight to anyone's face. At this point, I consider that to be downright noble of him.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Apr 2014 @ 12:30pm

    let's just face it. no one gives a toss about what the public thinks or what it wants. the government and it's security forces are going to do whatever they like, to whoever they like, wherever they like and whenever they like! they wont be satisfied until they know every little detail about everyone's life and if that means being under constant surveillance, even in your own home (if you are not already, of course!), then so be it!
    who would have thought that this would come back after fighting in a world war to prevent it? unbelievable!!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Apr 2014 @ 12:44pm

    Exploring ways to provide information

    “The executive branch is currently exploring ways in which it can provide the American people more information about the United States’ use of force outside areas of active hostilities,”
    With the rise of the Internet, providing information to the American people has never been easier. If the administration wants to provide information, it can post the after-action reports for the drone strikes and publicly state that the people who worked on those missions are permanently excused from any secrecy obligations they have with respect to the anything mentioned in the report. Those people can then freely state whether the report is accurate.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Apr 2014 @ 12:59pm

    I hope President Obama doesn't order a drone strike on the Bundy Ranch. Sen. Harry Reid already labeled the Bundy supporters as domestic terrorists.

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/17/sen-reid-calls-supporters-nevada-rancher-bundy -domestic-terrorists/

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Michael, 29 Apr 2014 @ 1:00pm

    James Clapper, assured them in a recent letter that the Obama administration was looking for its own ways to disclose more about its highly controversial drone strikes

    That's the US government for you. "Because we are in the middle of determining how to do something, we are forced to disregard the instructions you have provided for how to do it."

    I'm pretty sure that is exactly how brand new Ikea furniture sometimes ends up on the curb.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Apr 2014 @ 1:18pm

    Clapper isn't being humorous. You are missing the caps. "Most Transparent Administration" is a title. They are just waiting for the trademark to be granted.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    zip, 29 Apr 2014 @ 1:23pm

    dead babies, mutilated children, and other dirty secrets

    As far as requiring the government to report drone-strike casualties, these aren't quite the "unknown unknowns" or "known unknowns" or even "unknown knowns" (to quote the great wordsmith Donald Rumsfeld) that the US government seems to claim. Foreign news sources routinely report the death toll, even posting photographs and videos of dead babies and mutilated children as proof.

    The US mainstream media, as expected, routinely censors this information, and instead repeats government talking points. (OK, maybe not RT)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Apr 2014 @ 1:38pm

    I have a better Idea, make the number of casualties outside a war zone zero, by prohibiting the use of drone strike outside of a war zone where the US army is engaged. Where war has not been declared, or at least informally recognized by armies engaging each other, killing people because you do not like their politics is murder.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Apr 2014 @ 2:51pm

    This guys was caught LYING to Congress, committing a felony in the process. What trust can we have in the intelligence agencies, if they keep allowing someone like him to KEEP his job?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      GEMont (profile), 30 Apr 2014 @ 1:22pm

      Re:

      Sorry, but the Fed and its Agencies have absolutely no need for your trust, or your approval.

      All they need is your tax dollars, thank you very much.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Zonker, 29 Apr 2014 @ 4:56pm

    Government secrets and the reasons for them certainly seem to have changed a lot since my childhood.

    What was considered government secrets back then:
    * Nuclear weapons: How they are made and delivered to their targets.
    * Area 51/Military bases: What projects are hidden inside it? Experimental aircraft or alien conspiracies?
    * Stealth technology: Everything about the B-2 stealth bomber, even simply what it looked like.
    * Codebreaking: Methods and effectiveness.
    * Espionage: Agent identities, missions, locations, and foreign targets.

    What is considered a government secret today:
    * Treaties: What agreements in the name of trade are being made between nations, even the negotiations themselves.
    * Laws and Justice: Secret laws with secret interpretations using secret evidence for secret convictions.
    * Lists: No-fly lists, watch lists, threat lists, terrorist lists, who is on them, how they got on them, why they are on them, how to get off of them.
    * Senate reports: The results of $40 million dollar investigative reports by our elected representatives of policies and acts committed by government agencies that are most certainly illegal, immoral, and violate international treaties.
    * Espionage: Spying and collecting data on American citizens (Cats out of the bag on that one now). Agent's identities, not so much (If they don't support the administration's agenda).
    * Military outcomes: Drone stats and effectiveness. Enemy vs civilian vs American losses.
    * Embarrassment: Basically anything that would embarrass or make government look bad or hypocritical. Government communications, opinions, or potentially incriminating activities. Anything a whistle-blower might reveal.

    Makes me miss the less overtly corrupt times of the past.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      GEMont (profile), 30 Apr 2014 @ 1:18pm

      Re:

      The difference is merely from political to commercial.

      Democracy VS fascism.

      In the old days, the fed was not controlled by corporations.... as much. :)

      Now days, its more important to "protect the product" and "maintain the image" than to worry about international or domestic stuff, unless there's some money to be made in it.

      Wait till you see how the Fed is paying off the Chinese for financing the latest US commercial wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. You're gonna love this secret.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Apr 2014 @ 4:55am

    It's OK

    for us to kill Africans and Muslims. Sadly, that's just the way it is. There are quite a few criminals in this (and the previous) administration that I'd love to see rot in jail for the rest of their lives. I'm sick to death of 'state secrets' applying to everything this government does. I'm guessing the question of whether Obama shits like the rest of us is probably classified.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    me@me.net, 30 Apr 2014 @ 5:06am

    how is Clapper not a felon and traitor?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      GEMont (profile), 30 Apr 2014 @ 1:10pm

      Re: how is Clapper not a felon and traitor?

      Because they all did exactly what the government told them to do, even though it makes them look like assholes.

      Hell they'll likely get promotions... or retirement mansions in Yosemite at least.

      When you're an employee of the fed and following the instructions of the government, you cannot be charged with committing a crime for the government by the government.

      For example, assassins who commit murder, or drone operator assassins who commit mass murder and terrorism - FOR the government - would never be charged with such crimes BY the government.

      Now YOU on the other hand, if you're not a federal employee, can be charged with both a felony and with treason, simply for breathing air, should the government decide it doesn't like you, or the way you comb your hair.

      This is the most common symptom of all fledgling police states. You see, the fed no longer works for you. Its now working against you, because its certain that pretty soon, you and everyone else will be working against it.

      Its a sort of siege mentality. After all, they are sort of Occupying a conquered land.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    GEMont (profile), 30 Apr 2014 @ 12:56pm

    Its a good paying job and they want to keep it

    Feinstein And Chambliss are just doing their job and protecting the jobs of American citizens.

    They are protecting the jobs of Feinstein And Chambliss.

    In a corporate structure you can easily be replaced, as minions below simply move on up.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    The Wanderer (profile), 7 Sep 2014 @ 7:53am

    Why pull the bill?

    So, wait.

    The Senate was working on a bill to require disclosure of drone-strike numbers.

    James Clapper assures them that the administration is already working on such disclosure.

    So why should the response not be "Great! Then you'll already be well on the way to compliance with the new requirement!"?

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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