Memo to WaPo: Torture Is Not Just Waterboarding
I can't tell whether this WaPo piece is a thinly sourced Jane Harman hit on Pelosi. Or an incredibly crappy article asserting facts for which it has no proof.
Bed Dinnertime For Bonzo Gonzo
Hello Americans, it's Friday! Are you mystified, bewildered and puzzled? Well I sure as heck am. Guess who's coming to dinner? Gonzo! He's going to the White House Correspondent's Dinner.
Breaking News!! CIA Manipulating Briefing Process!!
No. Not really breaking. We knew that CIA was playing around with its obligation to inform the intelligence committees before it starts any big new projects--like opening torture factories around the world.
But that's the real story of this briefing list--aside from what a bunch right wingers are claiming it says, the actual details of the briefing list notwithstanding.
Republicans Appropriating Torture
There were three briefings of the Appropriations Committees on torture. Which raise more questions than answers.
CIA Lying to ABC about Torture. Again. ABC Reporting It Uncritically. Again.
The CIA has gotten a list of torture briefings into ABC's hands. That list is inaccurate--and the CIA even admits it might be inaccurate. But ABC is treating as accurate, I guess because it worked out so well the last time CIA lied to ABC about torture.
Pelosi's Advisory On Abu Zubaydah And Torture
As Marcy noted back on April 29th, the issue of Nancy Pelosi's briefing back in 2002 on the Bush/Cheney torture program, whether or not it was being applied to Abu Zubaydah and, if so, to what extent has really turned into a he said-she said game. So, it should not come as any surprise that yet another missive has been launched in this little passion play.
Stressing Teh Kitty
The bank stress test results are in! Wonderful news, the economy is totally groovy man! Well, except not. For what are being hailed as great results, there are some disturbing numbers. Said stress tests of the 19 largest U.S. banks show they will need a total of $74.6 billion to withstand a deeper recession.
Interrogation and Response--the Democratic Way
Okay, I lied. I'm going to throw up a quick post.
I wanted to direct your attention to Scott Horton's interview of the Stanford students who challenged Condi Rice on her role in torture. In particular, I wanted to point to the comments of Sammy Abusrur--whose friends are now calling him "Frost"--about Condi's role over all as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State.
I am not a political scientist, nor an international
Big Auto Musical Chairs
Okay, I didn't see this one coming. General Motors is staring imminent bankruptcy dead in the eye and now they want to negotiate purchase of a substantial interest in Fiat. This is getting weird.
The Value Of The Hometeam
Sports are a fickle thing, they bring out the best and the worst of people. Professional sports franchises often come, in a way, to define their cities. But what is their intrinsic value? What does it mean when they leave? The City of Phoenix may be about to find out.
The OPR Report: Why No Sanctions for Bradbury?
The WaPo reports that OPR has recommended John Yoo and Jay Bybee be sanctioned--but not Steven Bradbury. Is that because he was still in charge of OLC when OPR allowed OLC to review the report?
Dougie Feith's Little Shop of Tortures?
I just happened to find Dougie Feith's responses to Questions for the Record the Senate Intelligence Committee asked him in 2003. They wanted to know how hos little intelligence shop at DOD--the Policy Counter Terrorism Evaluation Group (PCTEG)--bridged the line between intelligence and policy.
He said his little intelligence shop helped formulate policy on:
The New Journalism
Sometimes tectonic shifts are underfoot and society fails to recognize the acts and effects. Such is the case with journalism and its daily outlets, newspapers and television. Newspapers are dying left and right, but it is not just their financial viability that is in freefall, it is their content. The new journalists, like Marcy Wheeler, are filling the void.
More on the Field Trip to Gitmo
Just wanted to point to two tiny details about the "field trip" of the War Council (Addington, Yoo, Haynes, Gonzales, and Rizzo, plus friends) to Gitmo on September 25, 2002.
Conyers (et al) to Archivist: How Successful Were They at Destroying Evidence?
As John Conyers has suggested, if the Bush Administration destroyed Philip Zelikow's dissent to Bradbury's torture memo, it's a violation of the Presidential Records Act, in addition to--potentially--evidence of criminal intent.
If It Sounds Too Good for the Goss, It's Worth a Second Gander
Something stinks about Porter Goss' claim to have stood against torture in December 2005: Robert Grenier, head of Counterterrorism, was fired a month later for being insufficiently pro-torture.
If Condi Says "Nixon" Directly Rather than Through Anonymous Sources, Does the NYT Hear?
If Condi had said, "By definition, if it was authorized by the President, it did not violate our obligations in the Convention Against Torture," to the NYT via anonymous sources, THEN would they consider it news?
Rice and Goss Turn on Cheney
People close to Condi Rice and Porter Goss appear to be significant sources for a NYT article adding new data points to the torture narrative. They're self-serving. But if Condi and Goss want to turn on Cheney, I'll take it.
Did Mitchell and Jessen Have the Three OTHER Torture Tapes? Or the Egyptians?
The letter DOJ sent a letter to Leonie Brinkema to explain why it had neglected to admit there were torture tapes it didn't disclose to her during the Moussaoui trial. The whole letter makes a lot more sense if James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen had had the tapes.
Torture Tapes and Briefings
Michael Isikoff suggests that John Durham may be focusing on the Moussaoui requests for testimony from Abu Zubaydah and others. That may put CIA knowledge and intent to destroy the tapes much earlier.