Well, it's official now: John Kiriakou, the former CIA operative who affirmed claims that waterboarding quickly unloosed the tongues of hard-core terrorists, says he didn't know what he was talking about.

Kiriakou, a 15-year veteran of the agency's intelligence analysis and operations directorates, electrified the hand-wringing national debate over torture in December 2007 when he told ABC's Brian Ross and Richard Esposito in a much ballyhooed, exclusive interview that senior al Qaeda commando Abu Zubaydah cracked after only one application of the face cloth and water.

April 13, 2009

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF DEFENSE COUNSEL
OFFICE OF MILITARY COMMISSIONS

Leon E. Panetta
Director, Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, DC 20505

RE: REQUEST TO PRESERVE CIA DETENTION FACILITIES USED TO DETAIN HIGH-VALUE DETAINEES—A.K.A. “BLACK SITES”

Dear Mr. Panetta:

American Civil Liberties Union Citizen ? American Federation of Government Employees ? Government Accountability Project (GAP) ? Liberty Coalition ? National Employment Lawyers Association ? National Treasury Employees Union ? National Whistleblower Center ? OpenTheGovernment.org ? Project on Government Oversight ? Public Citizen ? Union of Concerned Scientists ? U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation

April, 2009

Groups Seek Whistleblower Rights Clarification from Obama Administration

American Federation of Government Employees -- Government Accountability Project (GAP) -- Liberty Coalition -- National Employment Lawyers Association -- National Treasury Employees Union -- National Whistleblower Center -- Project on Government Oversight -- Public Citizen -- Union of Concerned Scientists -- U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation

For Immediate Release
Feb. 3, 2009

Contacts
Charity Wilson, American Federation of Government Employees, (202) 639-6440
Tom Devine, GAP, (240) 888-4080
Michael Ostrolenk, Liberty Coalition, (301) 717-0599

"And the way to make government accountable is make it transparent so that the American people can know exactly what decisions are being made, how they're being made and whether their interests are being well-served."

-- Barack Obama

These words from President Obama yesterday, his first full day in office, are particularly welcome to those who blow the whistle on government waste, fraud and abuse.

They want him to strengthen transparency by making it safer for federal employees and contractors to reveal policies and practices that may run counter to the public interest.

RAWSTORY.COM (11/26/2008)-- The US Office of Special Counsel, which is tasked with protecting government employees who blow the whistle on corruption and mismanagement within their ranks, is not doing its job, a watchdog group says in a report released this week.

The Project on Government Oversight examined the cases of several Federal Air Marshals who alleged they were retaliated against by superiors after attempting to point out problems, and the special counsel was unable to protect them.