Title: CIA Whistleblower: Harvard Picks Torture Apologists Over Che
Show: The Real News Network
Date: 2017-09-15
URL: https://youtu.be/YfzSoVAuSwY
Duration: 8.6:00

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[00:03] it's the real news I'm Aaron Matty Chelsea Manning is celebrated around the world for exposing the secrets of u.s. foreign policy including war crimes and going to prison for it all the while standing up for her rights as a trans woman but one of the most prestigious US schools has taken a different view the Harvard Kennedy School has rescinded an invitation to Manning as a visiting fellow after a backlash led by current and former officials former CIA deputy director

[00:35] Michael Morell resigned as a Harvard fellow in protest writing quote I have an obligation to my conscience the current CIA director Mike Pompeo withdrew from a Harvard forum where he was set to speak Pompeyo said quote it has everything to do with her identity as a traitor to the US and Lyle Oil T to the officers of the CIA this prompted Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf to announce he would still invite Manning to speak on campus but is

[01:06] withdrawing her designation as a visiting fellow Elmendorf wrote quote I see more clearly now that many people view a visiting fellow title as an honorific so we should weigh that consideration when offering invitations joining me is someone who knows about the consequences of government whistleblowing John Kiriakou is a former CIA analyst who exposed the agency's torture program and became the only fishel jailed in connection with it John welcome thanks for having me happy to be with you again thank you for joining us

[01:39] your reaction to Harvard's decision to tell you the truth I was disgusted by Harvard and by its decision for a couple of reasons it was it was bad enough that the John F Kennedy School of Government disinvited Chelsea Manning but then to to try to justify its actions it dug itself deeper in a hole CIA director Mike Pompeo made a ridiculous hypocritical statement today saying that or yesterday I should say saying that

[02:10] Harvard had traded someone who had sir this country with respect and dignity for someone who had committed treason against her country that is preposterous and let me tell you why I worked for 14 and a half year was years with Mike Morell I know Mike Morell well Mike Morell was instrumental in implementing the CIA's torture program Mike Morell was instrumental in implementing the CIA's program of secret prisons around the world Mike Morell was instrumental

[02:41] in implementing the CIA's extraordinary rendition program which is just an extra legal kidnapping program that is not serving your country with respect and with dignity that is committing international crimes against humanity so I would trade Mike Morell for Chelsea Manning any day of the week Harvard made a grave mistake you know John the irony there in looking at morels record if you look at the letter that he wrote as I

[03:12] read explaining why he was resigning in protest of the invitation to Manning he said quote I have an obligation to my conscience I'm sorry III don't mean to laugh out loud but but it's laughable where was his conscience when we were murdering people in enterin during interrogations at the CIA where was his conscience where we were creating these dungeons in former country in foreign countries to to torture people in he had no conscience

[03:42] and now his conscience tells him that he can't serve not even not even in the same in the same program but in the same school with with a whistleblower a woman who meets the very definition of whistleblowing which is bringing to light any evidence of waste fraud abuse or illegality that's exactly what Chelsea Manning did let me also reach you more from Mike Pompeo the director of the CIA who you mentioned he wrote in

[04:13] defending Morell's decision he wrote it has everything to do with her identity as a traitor to the United States of America and my loyalty to the officers of the CIA accusing Manning of treason that's a charge that she was not convicted of no I mean Mike Pompeo isn't as smart as he would like to think that he is there's of course a legal definition of treason and Chelsea Manning and Chelsea Manning's actions bear no resemblance

[04:44] whatsoever to the to the constitutional definition of treason Mike Pompeo is a politician and he's a politician who's in over his head he's out of his element he simply doesn't know what he's talking about you know John if you could help me do a little bit of psychoanalysis here what do you think goes on in the minds of people like Mike Morell Mike Pompeo all those who are so outraged so livid over granting someone like Chelsea Manning

[05:15] who stood up for her conscience and went to jail for it granting her a you know relatively mild honor a visiting fellowship it's not like she got the Nobel Peace Prize which of course many people think she should get but what do you think goes on in their minds when they see this happen and why they react so angrily in response I think that that the likes of Morrell and Pompeyo and Tennant and Phil Mudd and Steve kappes and all these other people Jose Rodriguez all these

[05:45] other people who have been implicated in the CIA's torture program and other extrajudicial programs have to double down they have they have made decisions over the courses of their CIA careers that are indefensible but when they die and their obituaries are written the first thing that's going to be mentioned is these programs and so they have to repeat this lie over and over and over again that things like the torture

[06:17] program and the rendition program and the secret prisons were illegal and somehow benefited the American people and kept the country safe they have to keep repeating that lie hoping that if they say it enough times the American people will finally come to believe it so when someone like Chelsea Manning gets as you say this this very you know not that big of a deal honor to be a visiting fellow at Harvard the torturers have to double down right and finally

[06:48] John you know you're talking about how these people will be remembered and remembered for the crimes that they oversaw well the reason that they'll be remembered for that if that happens is because people exposed it people like Manning and people like yourself and I'm wondering seeing how Manning is treated you know now and of course with a prison sentence you also went to prison I'm wondering if you talked about the just the the difficulty of being a whistleblower where you are you face such punishment not only you know after you're caught for the Act but then

[07:20] society people in power still continue to treat you with scorn and disdain oh yeah unless your name is you know Scooter Libby for example or David Petraeus unless you're a friend of the President or you have four shiny stars on your shoulder you're pretty well ruined you know the goal is not just to give you a year or two or seven in prison the goal is to ruin you permanently not just because they don't like you but because they want to make

[07:50] an example of you so that other people don't take your cue and blow the whistle on waste fraud abuse and illegality you know it's it's whistleblowers that that bring down these illegal programs and the powers that be in places like the CIA or the White House or the Pentagon won't stand for it John Kerry aku is the former CIA analysts who went to prison for exposing the torture program now he's the co-host of the show loud and clear with Brian Becker on

[08:20] radio Sputnik John thanks very much my pleasure thanks for having me and thank you for joining us on the real news
