Congress should take a good look

Re “Bipartisan outrage over CIA videos,” Dec. 10

An inquiry! Congress is coming down hard on the CIA which, with either incompetence or dishonesty, greased the way for the disastrous war in Iraq. Now that the Justice Department is reviewing the congressional request, the CIA must be in a tizzy. Does Congress think that a video is a unique parchment painstakingly inscribed by agency monks? Does anybody imagine for a moment that there isn’t even a single digital backup on some hard drive somewhere? Maybe Congress should ask for copies and ask, if it isn’t too much trouble for CIA Director Michael V. Hayden, are there any other videos the agency would like us to not see? And who imagines that President Bush’s Justice Department is really going to put heat on its masters? How much evidence will go missing in the meantime? Congress, as with its credulous support for the invasion of Iraq, is happy with the criminal status quo as long as it can claim it was deceived.

Gary Paudler

Summerland