“You mean the Post tortured that guy before we did? That must be how they get their info ahead of the CIA.”
As the New Republic points out today, Bush’s speech yesterday justifying torture was another in a long series of lies.
According to Bush, “[After being tortured] Zubaydah identified one of KSM’s accomplices in the 9/11 attacks–a terrorist named Ramzi bin al Shibh.”
Turns out, Zubaydah could have avoided the thumb screws if Bush could just be persuaded to read the newspaper. The Washington Post, between 9/11 and the time Zubaydah was captured, had mentioned Ramzi bin al Shibh 26 times.
The other howler, of course, in Bush’s statement was this one: “The Department of Justice reviewed the authorized methods extensively and determined them to be lawful.” For those keeping score, that’s the same Justice Deparment currently being run by Alberto Gonzales. You may remember him as the guy who wrote the legal justification for torture when he was White House counsel. He’s also the guy who thinks its ok to spy on Americans without a warrant.
All I can say is, when I get in trouble, I want Gonzo for my lawyer, because I won’t have to worry about whether or not I did the crime. He’ll just declare whatever I did not to be a crime.
Leave a Reply