Obama OK With CIA Rendition

Torture allegations trump state secrets argument, panel rules

(NEWSER) - Five men who allege they were kidnapped and tortured on the orders of CIA agents may bring suit in federal court, an appeals panel ruled yesterday. Presidents Bush and Obama both contended that the case should be dismissed to protect classified evidence. But a federal appeals court panel ruled presidential powers to guard state secrets "are not the only weighty constitutional values at stake." More»

(NEWSER) - More details are emerging from the Obama camp's debate on how to handle the Bush interrogation memos. In the Washington Post, Dan Balz writes that President Obama rejected the idea of setting up an investigation panel along the lines of the 9/11 Commission. Obama wanted to move on rather than drag out a never-ending investigation under the auspices of the White House. More»

President's belief in rule of law won out in choice to release Bush-era memos

(NEWSER) - President Obama spent weeks thinking "very long and hard" about his "weighty decision" to release memos on harsh CIA interrogation techniques green-lighted by the Bush administration, senior adviser David Axelrod tells Politico. In the end, Axelrod says, the president's belief in transparency and the rule of law won out over the principle of the sanctity of covert operations. More»

President questions provisions about treatment of suspected terrorists

(AP) - President Barack Obama signed a wide-ranging defense bill into law today despite having "serious reservations" about provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists. The bill also applies penalties against Iran's central bank in an effort to hamper Tehran's ability to fund its nuclear enrichment program. The Obama administration is looking to soften the impact of those penalties because of concerns that they could lead to a spike in global oil prices or cause economic hardship on US allies that import petroleum from Iran. More»

Obama invokes Bush policies as defense in Couric interview

(NEWSER) - President Obama rolled out a surprising line of defense when Katie Couric quizzed him about civilian trials for terrorists in an interview Sunday, writes William McGurn. "We're not handling any of these cases any different than the Bush administration handled them all through 9/11," Obama insisted. Invoking Bush to defend himself is quite the reversal for someone who campaigned as the anti-Bush, McGurn writes in the Wall Street Journal. More»