The Barack Obama Administration has accused a former CIA agent and torture whistleblower, John Kiriakou, of causing damage to national security in a move that takes it further away from President Obama’s pre-election promise of getting rid of George W. Bush’s legacy.

John Kiriakou first burst into the limelight in 2007 when he gave his sensational interview for the ABC News, in which he slammed “enhanced interrogation methods” applied to terror suspects as downright torture. He confirmed that decisions on those “enhanced methods” had been passed at a top level in Washington.

In 2010, Kiriakou revealed some torture details in his book titled “The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA’s War on Terror”. One of the suspects, Abu Zubaydah, was put through so-called water-boarding, an interrogation technique, or rather a form of torture, when water is poured constantly on the face of an immobilized captive. Needless to say that the government had done everything it could to thwart the publication. Subsequent charges against its author indicate that the White House has reason to worry. A look at Kiriakou’s career records is enough to convince everyone that this man knows what he is saying.

After spending a few years in the Middle East as an expert specializing on Iraq, Kiriakou fought ultra-right terrorists in Greece, and after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States he was appointed chief of counterterrorist operations in Pakistan. Over the course of his career, Kiriakou was awarded a dozen state awards, including the Counterterrorism Service Medal.

The charges brought against him by State Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who stood by the government in a number of scandalous lawsuits, look a complete farce. Thus, Fitzgerald demanded a 30-year prison term for Kiriakou, but he had stopped short of prosecuting former Vice President Dick Cheney in the past despite his being heavily implicated the case of his former aide Lewis Libby, who was charged with perjury.

Bringing Kiriakou to justice for merely voicing torture accusations against the CIA is a pretty odd idea, considering that those directly responsible for torture have escaped punishment. Thus, no charges have been filed against a group of CIA agents led by Director of National Clandestine Service, who destroyed secret video tapes of brutality and torture in a Thai prison.

Thomas Drake, a former senior security officer of the U.S. National Security Agency, was Kiriakou’s fellow in misfortune. In 2010, he stood trial for disclosing information about his agency. Later, the charges were dropped.

The government’s position in Kiriakou’s case and with Obama’s role in the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal are glaring proof that whoever is the president of the United States, the White House will continue to hide unpleasant truths from the public and will fight anyone who dares to stand in its way.

Source: The Voice of Russia