Word: cia
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...book about aggregating information entitled “Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge.” What are your thoughts on wikis? CRS: I think wikis are a promising device by which to pool diverse information, so I am upbeat on wikis. I have worked some with the CIA on how to aggregate disparate information there. On the other hand, it is true that there are vandals and malcontents who can defeat the project, so we are still learning about the domains in which open wikis work and the ways in which you need active administrators to make sure...
...thousands of prisoners in Iraq amid continuing controversy over their legal rights. U.S. military interrogators are currently limited to the less aggressive methods of questioning listed in the Army's field manual, though President George W. Bush recently vetoed a bill that would have put similar limits on the CIA. For its part, the agency is investigating the destruction of videos allegedly showing torture in its secret overseas prisons, while Attorney General Michael Mukasey remains on the defensive for not condemning specific forms of torture. A variety of cases in lower courts and at the Supreme Court address allegations...
Spying has long been a risky business, but now America's spooks complain that they're facing double jeopardy: a potentially rising tide of lawsuits and criminal proceedings, plus investigations by Congress. To help secret agents who may need the advice of a lawyer, CIA director Michael Hayden this week generously offered CIA employees the ultimate perk: full reimbursement of legal-liability insurance. And it will cover all employees involved in covert activity, not just those working in counterterrorism and counterproliferation...
Jose A. Rodriguez, former director of the clandestine service, is one policyholder. He'll need the money to deal with the legal consequences of ordering the destruction of videos showing the CIA's interrogation and possible torture of a pair of al-Qaeda suspects. Scores of other spies with their own potential legal problems are also believed to have purchased coverage, but their identities are not public. Wright & Co. of Arlington, Va., the company that sells most of the insurance, says a basic plan costs about $300 annually. That pays for up to $1 million worth of court judgments...
Behind the CIA's insurance boom lurks a fear that the number of agency employees who become targets of legal action could multiply with a new President. Candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have unambiguously opposed torture, while John McCain, a prisoner in Hanoi during the Vietnam War, has sponsored legislation to ban interrogation methods like waterboarding. If Congress holds new hearings, anyone called to testify will need a lawyer. And with more detainees being released and claiming they were tortured, some CIA officers' need for legal counsel?and insurance to cover the cost?is sure to rise...