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Pelosi Raises Stakes in Torture Debate

Speaker puts herself at center of storm over Bush policies

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted May 15, 2009 5:59 AM CDT

(Newser) – Whether by accident or design, Nancy Pelosi has turned the debate on the Bush administration's anti-terror program into a high-stakes game of brinksmanship, Dan Balz writes in the Washington Post. Pelosi's declaration yesterday that the CIA lied to Congress amounts to "a declaration of war," Balz writes, setting the stage for a long battle certain to claim political casualties.

Pelosi has made herself a target for the right and a hero to the left over the issue, Balz writes, much as Dick Cheney has made himself the figurehead for defense of Bush's policies. The speaker "has assured that she will remain a central character in the political fight that is raging," Balz writes, but "she also succeeded in enlarging a controversy that is no longer a sideshow."

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, yesterday. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday accused the CIA of misleading Congress over its interrogation program. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

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Pelosi's performance in the Capitol was either a calculated escalation of a long-running feud with the Bush administration or a reckless act by a politician whose word had been called into question.
- Dan Balz

Washington now is engaged in a battle royal of finger-pointing, second-guessing and self-defense, all over techniques President Obama banned in the first days of his administration. - Dan Balz

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Pelosi Raises Stakes in Torture Debate