CIA Docs Don't Vindicate Cheney

Some who were tortured misled interrogators

(NEWSER) - Some conservatives are arguing that Osama bin Laden's death justifies Bush-era harsh interrogation techniques , but after looking at the trail of evidence, the New York Times concludes that torture played “a small role at most” in finding bin Laden’s courier. The detainee who provided the most crucial information about Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti (the nom de guerre the courier apparently used) wasn’t waterboarded. And though the CIA asked for permission to use harsh techniques on him, one official says he was “quite cooperative” and says any rough treatment would have been brief. 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) - After being waterboarded 183 times and deprived of sleep for a week, self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Kalid Sheikh Mohammed transformed from an avowed enemy of the US into a sort of CIA guest lecturer, the Washington Post reports. Two anonymous sources, looking to build the case that harsh interrogation worked, say that in 2005 and 2006, KSM gave what CIA officers called “terrorism tutorials,” expounding on al-Qaeda’s structure and even reprimanding his “class” for poor note-taking. More»

As CIA boss concedes tactics may be illega

(NEWSER) - Dick Cheney yesterday defended the use of controversial interrogation techniques, crediting them with possibly “foiling an attack against the US," just as the director of the CIA was conceding to a congressional committee that waterboarding may be illegal. The VP defended the use of “a tougher program for tougher customers,” including “high-value targets” like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of 9/11, in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, reports the New York Times. More»

Waterboarding helped lead us to bin Laden: Linda Chavez

(NEWSER) - Waterboarding played a role in leading us to Osama bin Laden, writes Linda Chavez. So why is the Obama administration still pursuing its investigation of CIA interrogators, she wonders at the Washington Examiner . These agents deserve thanks, not punishment. The Obama administration must know it doesn't make sense: "The president is perfectly willing to kill terrorists but not willing to waterboard them?" More»