The CIA and other agencies involved in covert operations should be forced to release information

Congress regards oversight as "the authority to conduct inquiries or investigations of the executive, to have access to records or materials held by the executive, or to issue subpoenas for documents or testimony from the executive." To testify or issue a subpoena leads to the same thing The giving up of evidence and information regarding the inquiry. This means one thing ALL classified evidence becomes available to the public The reason we have covert operations is so they can stay COVERT Any evidence released is evidence that can be used against the CIA, etc. i. If the public disapproved, they can convince key politicians to stop the actions of the covert agencies. Furthermore, if the politicians disapprove, they can hold a subpoena can and delicate information MUST be released. ii. Water boarding is currently a hot topic for legality. And there is a good chance it will become illegal. So yes, covert ops are being compromised and made illegal by public protest iii. It doesn't matter if we agree or not. We are so used to peace and havnt been exposed to the horrors of war for some time. The CIA allows us to wage war without getting dirty. But the point is, we disapprove of many war tactics, and we always will. We consider killing immoral today, but what if it saved millions of lives? Would most americans look that far? The answer is no. 3) i. Let me rephrase. If the CIA commits an action against UN laws, but it is for the good of America, and the information of an operation reaches the ears of the foreign country, the country would be displeased with the US ii. Covert operations attempt to keep peace and NOT make war. Wars could start if a country believes the CIA is conducting illegal ops on their grounds. iii. We are already hated, so why worry about pissing people off further? That makes a lot of sense. Already fat, why not eat some more? We must not FURTHER instigate hate. 4) i. Specifics: CIA has information that, if released to the public, would compromise any operation involved. Why? Positions, dates, and identities of people would be known to all, even those the operation is directed to. This leads to either a scrapping of operation, or possible sabotage of operation. ii. Any congressional investigation leads to any available information available. Congress might be understanding, but is it worth the risk of American lives? 5) i. Under normal political cases, yes, you are right. But the covert sector of government is a little different. They have no check on the other spheres of government. This instance is one sided check. They, instead, live in a world where they ask for approval, then perform. That is the check Congress has. The approval of operations. ii. There is a difference between withholding information and getting caught committing un-authorized acts. This example does not apply to the current debate over sharing information iii. Congress authorizes ops, so any information involved in the operation does not need to be shared. Why? Because they can't do anything like torture without approval 6) The CIA MO is to protect America. Any information that Congress or the President would need to make decisions would be shared. There is no reason why the CIA would with hold information that is need to help America. Why? Because the information, if it could possible do any help, would be gathered at the end of the op. Thus, the information, if needed, would be released.