Hillary won't take stand on secret prisons

Here is yet another issue the former First Lady is considering in terms of its impact on the general election.  Too much calculation and not enough personal opinion.  All she has to say is "I oppose secret CIA prison," or" I don't oppose them."  She just cannot seem to do it.  And she has the audacity to stand there and claim that she will restore America's dignity throughout the world?

From Salon:

The differences between Clinton and her Democratic competitors havebeen most striking when it comes to the CIA, which institutionalizedprisoner abuse after 9/11 through harsh interrogations at "black site"prisons. The agency has also secreted terror suspects to third-partycountries for torture through so-called renditions.

The other major Democratic candidates have said they would shut downthe CIA activities. "No more secret authorization of methods likesimulated drowning," Obama said early this month in one of his manystatements on these issues. John Edwards said in the Democrats' debate at Dartmouth College on Sept. 26 thatthere would be "no more secret prisons. Not when I'm president of theUnited States." At the same debate, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico said, "What the administration has been using is calledwaterboarding ... I would not permit it." Sen. Chris Dodd's campaignWeb site says, "Extraordinary Rendition. Secret Prisons. No more." Sen. Joe Biden recently wrote a letter to the American Freedom Campaign, ananti-torture group, pledging that he would "close down secret CIAprisons in other countries where detainees are held incommunicado andcruelly mistreated."

As for what Clinton said:

In contrast, Clinton hasn't been clear about the CIA even when askeddirectly about the agency's interrogation program. In an interview inearly October, the Washington Post asked Clintonto address the CIA techniques specifically. According to a transcriptof that interview, the Post asked Clinton about the CIA since "you'vesaid you're against torture, but the types of methods that are now usedthat aren't technically torture but are still permitted, would you dosomething in your first couple days to address that, suspend some ofthe special interrogation methods immediately or ask for some kind ofreview?"

Clinton responded that it was unclear exactly what the CIA was upto. She needed more information. Clinton added only that: "I think wehave to draw a bright line and say, 'No torture -- abide by the GenevaConventions, abide by the laws we have passed,' and then try to makesure we implement that."

The Post described the answer as "vague."

Ah, Hillary needs more information.  She has only been a Senator for seven years, and has had plenty of time to ask the CIA for the data.  She has access to classified intelligence.

So why is she refusing to take a stand on secret prisons?  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that these rendition camps began during the mid-90s under her husband's administration.

If she is elected president, the current policy could get modified a little bit.  Waterboarding will almost definitely get banned.  But when it comes to secret prisons in general, they will still exist under a Hillary administration.