Just a few observations concerning Obama’s new policy of directly supervising the interrogation process:

1)The White House is circumventing the normal chain of command of the CIA. I’m assuming that a special office will be set up in either the EOB or the West Wing that will supervise and/or concur with ongoing interrogations. Not much of a vote of confidence for the folks in the CIA Operation’s branch. It is no wonder the DCI is not very happy. Remember, at the WH level politics trumps everything. Essentially, the entire interrogation process will eventually become politicized. I cannot imagine any effective interrogators staying on.

2)The Army Manual is much more constricting than what the CIA is historically used to. In the past, what the CIA interrogators did was secret; not anymore. In the past, a terror suspect or an enemy combatant didn’t really know what to expect from the CIA. Generally the public knew it was harsher, but to what degree? Now enemies of the US know exactly how to train their agents, and they now know that the White House will be acting as a direct check on any alleged “abuses”. With the new policies promulgated by the Courts giving habeas corpus rights to enemy combatants, the knowledge that now the White House has to know how the prisoners are to be treated, it is not a difficult to imagine a defense lawyer gaining an edge against the President? The obvious question arises, at what point is the President directly responsible for what goes on in the process? The new WH policy eliminates any future”disavowal”. The President now is legally and politically on the ropes.

In a practical sense, who in their right mind would serve as an interrogator for the CIA? Their effectiveness is now neutered. Our enemies know how far we will go, and now can use this politicization to their benefit. Who is advising the President? If I were his NSA or DCI I would certainly think about leaving.