TORTURE ROUNDUP….I wanted to post about the selective release of torture-related documents from the White House tonight, but after reading half a dozen stories my brain exploded and I gave up. Sorry. Instead, go read Michael Froomkin, who knows more about this stuff than me anyway:
-
Basic overview of what it all means is here.
-
More about the new inoperativeness of the torture memos is here.
Or, hell, just go to his main site and scroll until you’re tired. There’ll probably be more there by the time you read this anyway.
A few highlights: (a) torture is bad unless it’s too much trouble, (b) only the military is mentioned, not the CIA, (c) the “it’s legal if the president says so” policy appears to still be in force, (d) Rumsfeld claims he never authorized anything more serious than a bit of yelling and shoving, and (e) this is a partial and self-serving release of documents and there’s no telling what they’re still holding back.
This is, admittedly, a pretty unfair summary of things, but it’s late and I’m tired and this subject makes me really cranky. The good news is that at least George Bush now says unequivocally that torture is wrong:
We do not condone torture. I have never ordered torture. I will never order torture. The values of this country are such that torture is not a part of our soul and our being.
Someone go tell Trent Lott, okay?
