Heat building over Bush-era terror tactics

President Obama is facing new pressure to reverse himself and to ramp up investigations into the Bush-era security programs, despite the political risks.

Leading Democrats on Sunday demanded investigations of how a highly classified counterterrorism program was kept secret from the congressional leadership on the orders of Vice President Dick Cheney.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on "Fox News Sunday" called it a "big problem." Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on ABC's "This Week," said the secrecy "could be illegal" and demanded an inquiry.

According to Feinstein, CIA Director Leon Panetta told Congress late last month that "he had just learned about the program, described it to us, indicated that he had canceled it and ... did tell us that he was told that the vice president had ordered that the program not be briefed to the Congress."

"We were kept in the dark," Feinstein said. "That's something that should never, ever happen again."

Sources have refused to provide details about the program, put in place in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks but never fully operational. However, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site Sunday that the program was an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential authorization to capture or kill al-Qaida operatives, according to former intelligence officials familiar with the matter.

Attorney General Eric Holder also is close to assigning a prosecutor to investigate whether prisoners in the campaign against terrorism were tortured, officials said Saturday.

And after a report from five inspectors general about the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping said Friday that there were a number of undisclosed surveillance programs during the Bush years, Democrats are seeking more information.

A series of investigations could exacerbate partisan divisions in Congress, just as the Obama administration is trying to push through his ambitious domestic plans and needs all the support it can muster.

In addition, investigations at this time could subject Obama to accusations from Republicans that he is undercutting national security.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that despite his dismay at the CIA's past interrogation methods, including waterboarding, he opposed a criminal inquiry into torture, which he said would "harm our image throughout the world."

"I agree with the president of the United States, it's time to move forward and not go back," McCain said.

Obama, however, is likely to face increasing pressure from some of his strongest supporters that Bush administration officials be held accountable for approving what Obama himself has called torture.

The Justice Department's ethics office is expected to release soon a report on the former department officials who wrote legal opinions justifying brutal interrogations. The CIA has said that at the end of August it will release portions of the 2004 agency inspector general's report on interrogation that questioned the legality and effectiveness of the program.

And an 18-month-old criminal investigation of the agency's destruction of videotapes of waterboarding and other brutal treatment during interrogation is still under way, with a number of former CIA officials called to testify before a grand jury and at least the possibility of indictments. The special prosecutor in charge of that investigation, John Durham, has been mentioned as a possible choice for Holder if he decides to name someone to lead a torture investigation.

One person familiar with the attorney general's thinking said Sunday that investigating the possible crimes of the previous administration "is something he was reluctant to do."

Holder, however, "saw things that were disturbing shortly after taking office" and began to think more seriously about a torture investigation recently after studying the 2004 CIA inspector general's report, which describes how waterboarding and other methods sometimes went beyond the legal guidelines the Justice Department had approved, said this person, discussing conversations with Holder on condition of anonymity.

He said Holder is aware of the inevitable political fallout and the possible dismay of the White House but insists that he will not permit those factors to influence his decision.

Obama has been eager not to put himself at odds with the military and intelligence agencies. He visited CIA headquarters early in his presidency and blocked the release of photographs of prisoner abuse, saying they could inflame people in Iraq and Afghanistan and endanger U.S. troops.

If inquiries into the actions of the intelligence agencies under Bush alienate their operatives, Obama's ability to use the agencies could be hampered as he prosecutes the campaigns in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.

Republicans were quick to make that point Sunday.

"This is high-risk stuff," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said on "Fox News Sunday." "Because if we chill the ability or the willingness of our intelligence operatives and others to get information that's necessary to protect America, there could be disastrous consequences."