Asma Jahangir Quotes
It is not easy for the courts to control the intelligence agencies. There has to be concerted and coordinated effort on part of the courts, the parliament, and the government.
Jahangir, Asma. Press Conference. The Express Tribune, Century Publications, 2013.
In the Canadian, British and some other Parliamentary systems of government, the Prime Minister must appear weekly or periodically in the House of Commons and be subjected to any questions that are asked. He/she cannot claim Executive Privilege or simply not answer questions as in the American Presidential System.
SCAF: Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. This quotation illustrates how difficult it is to establish a real democracy in Egypt in particular and most Middle Eastern countries in general. Essentially, the General wants to be sure that there is no check or control on the military in the new dupposedly democratic system. In a democracy, there are only two elements that the people have selected and who represent them—the President and the Parliament. If neither of these can command and control the military, then the people have no control over the military which then becomes a de facto aristocracy that has a veto on everything in the country. Making the situation more difficult is the fact that in Egypt (as in many non democratic nations) the military owns and controls a very large segment of businesses throughout the economy—more than any corporation or wealthy family. The civilian control of the military—one of the most fundamental aspects of the United States and every other true democracy—will not likely be possible in Egypt in the next decade or so.
The major idea of intelligence agencies in a democracy is for the intelligence agencies to provide the policy makers with facts on the ground and data with which they can make sounder policies. However, many times the policies of the administration is so firm that the political ideology restrict not only the kinds of analysis the intelligence agencies do, but in some cases shape or control the conclusions of otherwise sound studies. The influence of Vice President Cheney on the CIA and the invasion of Iraq.
The appropriations committee allocates the monitory appropriations of all the agencies and it is a large committee. The appropriations committee members read the reports of the committee with oversight over an agency and makes judgments about the appropriation size compared to what the agency committee has authorized. But with intelligence there is nothing of detail in the report so the appropriations committee have little or no idea of what they are appropriating money for. But the appropriations committee will not delegate the appropriation decision to the Intelligence Committee.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, had released an unclassified Summary of the Committee Report on the CIA using torture and perverse treatment of suspect terrorists in the aftermath of the 9-11 attack on New York. Most Republicans argued vehemently that the Report should be classified and kept secret as the CIA behavior was so egregious, unpalatable, and morally reprehensible that there would be negative consequences including perhaps demonstrations and attacks against Americans in foreign countries. Moreover, Terrorist organizations would use the heinous CIA behavior as a recruiting tool for anti-American terrorists. McCain, who had himself been the victim of North Vietnamese torture cited the moral and ethical reasons to prohibit torture but also explained what has been proven over and over again that torture victims will tell the torturer any nonsense that they think the torturer might believe just to get obtain relief from the agony of the torture.
Trump refused to divest himself from his hotels and golf courses and received money from States and Foreign countries for their officials who paid the very high rates compared to other hotels and even golf courses trying to gain access and curry favor with the U. S. President. Once Tump became President, he raised the rates for his Hotel on Pennsuylvania Avenue not far from the White House from $250 a night to $500 a night. He also similarly increased the prices of a number of his other properties.
Asma Jilani Jahangir was a Pakistani human rights lawyer and social activist who co-founded and chaired the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Jahangir was known for playing a prominent role in the Lawyers' Movement and served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief and as a trustee at the International Crisis Group.
