MEMORANDUM FOR: The President

FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

SUBJECT: Veteran Intelligence Professionals Challenge CIA's "Rebuttal" on Torture

Former CIA leaders responsible for allowing torture to become part of the 21st Century legacy of the CIA are trying to rehabilitate their tarnished reputations with the release of a new book, Rebuttal: The CIA Responds to the Senate Intelligence Committee's Study of Its Detention and Interrogation Program. They are pushing the lie that the only allegations against them are from a partisan report issued by Democrats from the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The United States has become notorious for its often aggressive and short-sighted foreign policy in the Middle East and elsewhere, yet Russia and its leader are frequently blamed for troubles caused by Washington.

Syria is a prime example.

Although Syria is a mess that cannot be sorted out easily (thanks to the US-supported 'Arab Spring' and the ensuing civil war), there are practical ways of preventing Islamic extremists from overrunning the country.

When it comes to supporting Islamic extremists in Syria to overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad, the West is out of its mind, French political scientist Alexandre del Valle told Sputnik in an interview.

The fact that the United States now supports al-Qaeda in its fight against ISIL and al-Assad is a big mistake that will only cause more trouble for Washington in the future.

"To say that Bashar al-Assad is the bigger evil than ISIL is dangerous and to say that one can negotiate with other jihadists [al-Qaeda and so-called "moderate" Syrian rebels] is a big mistake... This strategy is insane," del Valle told Sputnik.

A former CIA officer while explaining why Russia supports the Syrian President point out that Putin understands the threat and the ways to fight the ISIL whereas the US has been "fool" supporting ineffective policy that leaded to the terrorist group' strength.

Russia is providing military support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad because Moscow understands what it takes to defeat the ISIL while US policy continues to fuel extremism, former CIA officer Larry Johnson told Sputnik.

"I personally am glad that Russia is taking these steps," Johnson said on Monday when asked about a private sector intelligence firm claiming it has satellite imagery showing Russia is ramping up military operations in Syria. "At least [Russian President Vladimir] Putin understands the threat and understands what is needed to confront it and defeat it."

The United States has persistently called for Assad to step down, arguing that regime change is the only viable political solution, while Russia has assisted the Syrian government in its fight against the ISIL.

The first batch of radioactive groundwater filtered below "measurable limits" at Japan's tsumani-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant has been dumped into the ocean, as TEPCO seeks to ease toxic water building-up at the site.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) that operates the crippled nuclear plant released its first 850 tons of filtered radioactive groundwater by sundown on September 14. This is a part of TEPCO's "subdrain plan" that was approved in late July after a year-long battle with local fishermen who opposed the release fearing that it would pollute the ocean and contaminate marine life.

A third party panel has given the green light to the release after confirming that the radioactive content was below measurable limits, according to The Japan Times. TEPCO allows one becquerel of radioactive cesium per liter of decontaminated groundwater, three becquerels for elements that emit beta rays and up to 1,500 becquerels for tritium, which cannot be removed with existing technology.

Monday's batch measured 330 to 600 becquerels per liter, TEPCO said, citing analyses conducted by the company and an outside organization.

Under the plan, TEPCO has to pump tons of water from 41 subdrain wells around the main buildings of the power plant and decontaminate it before the release. It has planned to pump 100 to 200 tons of groundwater daily and later increase it to 500 tons unless it triggers problems with the decontamination facilities.

By dumping the treated water into the ground, TEPCO and the government expects to halve the approximately 300 tons of contaminated water that is generated at the plant daily as well as reduce groundwater flowing into the reactor buildings.

TEPCO has yet to deal with remaining 680,000 tons of water that was used to cool the reactors during the 2011 meltdown.

The United States continues to excuse human suffering in Syria, sitting idly by, watching the conflict flare up, as if these were mere entertainment rather than human beings whose lives are being destroyed.

Despite being the richest nation in the world, the United States says it will only admit 10,000 Syrian refugees this year. Although no one will ever be able to verify that, it's still shamefully low, particularly given the role of the United States in stoking the refugee crisis in the first place.

Facing criticism for its lagging humanitarian response so far, the US seeks to frame its commitment as a significant boost. And indeed it does constitute an increase, as the US has admitted less than 1,500 Syrian refugees since the US-led war began in 2011. Still, the number falls well below commitments of other countries that are far smaller. For instance, Germany has committed to accepting up to 800,000 refugees by the end of this year.

What's more, the US is not planning to ease the cumbersome background and medical checks that leave refugees in legal limbo for up to two years. They have to go through the most robust security process of anybody who's contemplating travel to the United States.

This clearly means the US won't be able to meet its commitment this year - no matter how hard they try to convince the United Nations and human rights organizations. Bureaucratic impediments means the US will not provide immediate sanctuary — or anything close - either.

Just over a week ago, Hungary decided to allow around 12,000 refugees passage through the country, on their way to Germany via Austria. This was after plans were proposed to build a fence along Hungary's border with Serbia to prevent any more 'illegal crossings'. Well, the razor-wire fence has now been completed. The border is now closed, ahead of schedule, after Sunday saw a record 5,809 refugees enter the country on that day alone. Hungary's total number of refugee border crossings this year is estimated at around 190,000.

But Hungary isn't the only country to close its borders and tighten up security measures in the past few days. The Schengen system of open borders between EU nations seems to be falling apart.

Germany, which has willingly received the bulk of the refugees so far, stepped up their border controls this week, halting trains from Austria and stationing more police on their border with Austria. Slovakia (which has said it only wants Christian refugees - they have no mosques, apparently) has done the same on their borders with Hungary and Austria. Austria in turn sent the army to its borders. Hungary had done the same, with authorities planning to arrest and jail anyone entering the country illegally. Police in riot gear blocked the main railway track used by migrants. Hungarian police detained 9 Syrians and 7 Afghans, accused of 'breaching' the new razor-wire barrier. The government has made a decision to declare a crisis in the south of the country because of the 'problem'. Finland plans to increase its border monitoring; along with the Czech Republic and Poland, too.

Today, Tuesday, after the detentions in Hungary, migrants have begun a sit-down hunger strike.

Islamic State has designs on the holy cities of Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem and endangers Europe and Russia, Vladimir Putin said. Moscow is concerned about IS-trained jihadists returning to EU countries, the CIS and Russia.

The situation is very serious, Putin said, adding that Moscow is very worried that IS terrorists are publicly announcing their designs on Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. The jihadists also plan to spread their activities to Europe, Russia, central and southeastern Asia.

"Extremists from many countries of the world, including, unfortunately, European counties, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) undertake ideological and military training in the ranks of Islamic State [IS, formerly known as ISIS/ISIL]," said Putin. "And certainly we are worried that they could possibly return."

Putin said it's necessary for geopolitical ambitions to be set aside in the fight against IS terrorists.

"Simple common sense, responsibility for global and regional safety require uniting efforts of the international community [to fight] such a threat. It is necessary to set aside geopolitical ambitions, drop so-called double standards, the policy of direct or indirect use of separate terrorist groups for achieving one's own goals, including removing the governments and regimes."

An old dog can't learn new tricks.

One supports the government while the other backs "trusted" terrorists in Syria, and the similarities between the two parties begin and end there.

This week, however, their paths crossed in a manner that the US government did not appreciate: Russia is "reportedly" increasing its involvement in Syria, backing the military in the fight against ISIL, al-Qaeda, affiliates and proxies.

The US government has picked the "military intervention" card to fight back - claim territory - which is absurd. After all, the US and its NATO-Arab allies are also "supposedly" bombing ISIL targets in Syria!

Moscow has confirmed it has "experts" on the ground to support its long-time ally in the Middle East, but Russian officials decline to comment on the scale and scope of their military presence. Damascus, for its part, denies Russians are involved in combat. Then again, even if Russia decides to increase the presence of its military advisers, it should be welcome news for at least Washington's European allies who are struggling with the Syrian refugee crisis at their own doorstep.

Into the argument, the Syrian crisis needs a political solution not bombs. While Tehran and Moscow have made it clear that President Bashar Assad must be included in the necessary political negotiations to bring the fighting to an end, Washington and its allies continue to demand that the Syrian president should step aside.

Even though all share the same declared enemy in ISIL, the White House continues to frown on Iranian-Russian efforts to bolster the Syrian army and has rebuffed diplomatic overtures that would include President Assad.