Cheney Blasts Obama for Torture Probe

(NEWSER) - The White House was busily waging a do-or-die battle to pass health reform when it was suddenly handed exactly what it wanted to avoid: a polarizing battle about Bush-era tactics that President Obama has already condemned. Obama is attempting to remain above the fray as the administration insists that AG Eric Holder is acting independently. But keeping the president out of the line of fire won't be easy, reports the Los Angeles Times. More»

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama and Dick Cheney conspired to perpetuate the same myth yesterday, writes David Brooks of the New York Times. In their telling, we have seen a sharp break between Bush-Cheney terror policies and Obama-Biden ones. “This is a completely bogus distortion of history.” In reality, the policies Cheney’s defending were in place for maybe three years after 9/11. After that, over Cheney's objections, Bush cleaned up his act. More»

Former VP's defense of torture full of half-truths, falsehoods: Froomkin

(NEWSER) - Since leaving government, Dick Cheney has realized that TV and newspapers will report anything he says, writes Dan Froomkin for the Huffington Post, even though "he is a monstrous liar”—remember Saddam's WMDs? "After years of speaking in whispers, operating by proxy, and leaving as few fingerprints as possible," Cheney can't seem to shut up—and no matter what he's selling, the media "will fail to put it in any context whatsoever." More»

(NEWSER) - Dick Cheney has long insisted that two CIA documents from 2004 and 2005 would prove the value of torture. But after obtaining them yesterday, the Washington Independent says they do nothing of the kind. The documents actually suggest, albeit murkily, that non-abusive techniques were more effective. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s interrogators got some of their best intelligence not after the 183 times he was waterboarded, but with an old-fashioned trick: He believed another detainee had already given up the same info he shared. More»

(NEWSER) - AG Eric Holder today named a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of torture against CIA operatives who interrogated terror suspects during the Bush administration, the Washington Post reports. John Durham, who is currently probing the destruction of interrogation tapes, will look into fewer than 12 cases detailed in a CIA report released today and determine if a full-scale investigation is warranted. The Bush-era Justice Department investigated and dismissed the cases. More»