Uff da! That's Norwegian for "oh crap!" It seems that the Inspector General of the CIA, John Helgerson, has crossed those who get their knickers in knots when their "It's OK to torture" ethic gets publicized and critized. John Helgerson is calling them out, and now they are counter-attacking.
John Helgerson is a graduate of St. Olaf, a highly regarded Lutheran liberal arts college located in Northfield, MN. St. Olaf grads tend to be highly ethical and gentle souls who are grounded and centered in the best of upper-Midwest, Scandanavian, no-nonsense, practical and ethical view of the world.
I didn't graduate from St. Olaf; my father did, as did my best friend from high school. I almost went there, but it was too expensive. You get an excellent, well-rounded liberal arts eduation at St. Olaf, and you are sent into the world with a clear-eyed sense of who you are and what makes common sense. And then there is the music. The choral department is among the best in the world. If you watch public television around Christmas, the St. Olaf Choir concert is always broadcast on Christmas Eve. The quality is unsurpassed (except perhaps by the Concordia Choir, my alma mater). St. Olaf grads know what "quality" looks and sounds like.
I say all this to put Helgerson in context. If he says that the CIA has has tortured people, and that this runs totally counter to the ethos of the CIA, let alone the laws of the United States of America, then you can take this to the bank! And the people attacking him, "investigating" him as potentially "unfair," are by their actions indicating they are the lowest of low. If Helgerson is out of line, then I'm not Norwegian (and I am, 100%, and proud of it). Attacking Helgerson is yet another Bush/Rovian example of killing the messenger. (Yes, Rove is of Norwegian blood, but he was raised in Utah, and didn't attend any Lutheran liberal arts college-believe me, he would have dropped out, been kicked out or would have been changed into a decent fellow by his experience.)
Helgerson is made of tough stock. Hayden and Bush and fellow "evil doers" will not take him down. He will prevail and his attackers will crumble-and you can take that to the bank.