The Sound of Silence

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi came out recently and said that she would answer no more questions about her charge that the CIA lied to her and to Congress about the use of waterboarding, the controversial technique that some believe is torture. Regardless of whether you agree with the notion that waterboarding is torture, this is incredibly arrogant of Pelosi, especially given the number of times she's already spoken on the subject previous to her "no more statements" statement.

Beyond the "waterboarding is torture" debate, the issue at hand is whether the CIA lied to Pelosi and the members of Congress. If Pelosi is telling the truth, the CIA not only has some explaining to do, but it also has members of the organization that are guilty of a serious crime. Given the nature of their work, I don't discount the possibility that they may have lied to Congress. Even if the alleged lies were for the purpose of national security, lying to Congress is a no-no.

Having said that, Pelosi may not be the best person to bring those charges against the CIA, given that she's lied. When your story changes from "I wasn't briefed" to "I was briefed, but I wasn't there" to "I was there, but I was lied to" within the span of a couple of weeks, you have an issue with the truth. Watching Pelosi stumble through the delivery of her statement that the CIA lied told a different story: she wasn't being honest. Her body language reflected the idea that she wasn't comfortable saying the words she needed to say at that point in time to try to get her out of trouble.

When someone is telling the truth, their body language and delivery are far different. The delivery is much more smooth and had an undercurrent of personal strength to it that lends credibility to the claim. Then, there's the physical presentation to consider. When someone tells the truth, even under stressful conditions, their body takes on a rigidity that comes from steeling one's resolve to get the truth out there for public consumption. Pelosi had neither of these going for her.

So, we're left with a central question: did the CIA and Pelosi lie? At this point, I'm confident that Pelosi did. I'm less confident that the CIA did, but I haven't eliminated the possibility. And now that Pelosi has tried to close the door on further questions into her statements that the CIA lied to Congress, we're left with the central question hanging in the silence.