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Mainstreaming Torture: Newsweek Writes A 24 Episode
TalkLeft — Via Digby, Newsweek hires Stuart Taylor, with an assist from longtime Newsweek Beltway blowhard Evan Thomas, to write an episode of 24: The issue of torture is more complicated than it seems. . . . Waterboarding—simulating drowning by pouring water over the suspect's mouth and nostrils—is a brutal interrogation method. But by some (disputed) accounts, it was CIA waterboarding that got Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to talk. It is a liberal shibboleth that torture doesn't work—that suspects will say anything, including lies, to stop the ...

A Constitutional Lawyer in the White House
Suburban Guerrilla — ... a process.” Amazingly, when discussing the same topic, Obama vowed that “we will send a message to the world that we are serious about our values.” How? By creating a new court just for accused Islamic radicals that allows us to use confessions and other evidence that we obtained through torture? That sounds like exactly the same “message about our values” that we’ve been sending. Digby has more: But I would suggest that Obama contemplate one little thing before he decides to ...

Oh Goody, A Constitutional Lawyer in the White House!
Crooks and Liars — ... That's what he means when he refers to "creating a process." Amazingly, when discussing the same topic, Obama vowed that "we will send a message to the world that we are serious about our values." How? By creating a new court just for accused Islamic radicals that allows us to use confessions and other evidence that we obtained through torture? That sounds like exactly the same "message about our values" that we've been sending. Digby has more: But I would suggest that Obama contemplate one little thing ...

Obama To Rein In CIA Interrogations?
Open Left - Front Page — ... the world where the CIA has questioned terror suspects, with all future interrogations taking place inside American military facilities. However, Obama's changes may not be absolute. His advisers are considering adding a classified loophole to the rules that could allow the CIA to use some interrogation methods not specifically authorized by the Pentagon, the officials said. This just won't do.  Digby had some good commentary on this a few days ago worth repeating: But I would suggest that Obama contemplate one ...

Weekend Opinionator: Closing Gitmo, Opening a Can of Worms
Opinionator — ... and degrading” treatment of prisoners. But he might also want to carve out an exception for extreme cases, outlining coercive methods, like sleep deprivation, that could be used on specified detainees. To provide political accountability, the president should be required to sign any such orders, share them with the congressional intelligence committees and publicly disclose their number. For Hullabaloo’s Digby, inexplicably the current darling of the left side of the blogosphere, such contention demanded a call to arms : They’ve just successfully moved the goalposts. We are ...