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As with any issue or controversy everyone is entitled to their opinion and there is no shortage of them in the story on interrogation techniques. Now the silly or embarrassing display of public officials scurrying to distance themselves from additional stories on who knew about the technique known as waterboarding and its use in the GWOT serves as just one more example of the stupidity of politics.

The holier than thou attitude and often expressed disdain toward Bush administration officials who approved the technique for use in terrorist interrogations and the call for punishment of those involved is being replaced by the Washington two-step or side step now that most politicians are viewed as knowing about it in advance along with those they previously condemned.

Throughout the history of war or other armed conflict on this planet it is probably fair to state that all involved from any country or group from time to time have chosen to act in ways we would under other circumstances view as objectionable. It could further be stated that most choose to look the other way or dismiss these actions as the ends justifying the means. Not unlike the questions posed of the type where one’s family members will be killed if information leading to their rescue is not gleaned from a suspect. The accompanying dilemma is whether the ordinary citizen would agree to unpleasant options for extracting the aforementioned ‘information’ from the suspect. If asked under these circumstances it is typically anticipated that most people would succumb to the pressure and act in questionable ways to save the lives of those in peril.

The argument to the contrary that we do or should always act in morally correct ways is generally reserved for a time when such circumstances are not present and we are free to respond like the angels we view ourselves to be.

Using accounts of the never ending battle of good or evil as a tool for gaining advantage in partisan politics has a long and storied history. It appears the outcome of this episode of we’re good and you’re bad will end the way it always does. With everyone accusing others or defending themselves ending up wiping the crap or ‘evidence’ from their clothing in public view. Nancy Pelosi and Jane Harman are most likely not the only ones who will look foolish for accusing others of bad behavior.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

The chart said that at the first briefing, on Sept. 4, 2002, Ms. Pelosi, then the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, and Representative Porter J. Goss, the committee’s Republican chairman, were given a “description” of the interrogation methods that “had been employed” against a prisoner, Abu Zubaydah.

On Friday, the speaker issued a statement defending her previous account.

“Of the 40 C.I.A. briefings to Congress reported recently in the press, I was only briefed once, on Sept. 4, 2002, as I have previously stated.” She said she was “briefed on interrogation techniques the administration was considering using in the future” and that the techniques were determined to be legal.

A top aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attended a CIA briefing in early 2003 in which it was made clear that waterboarding and other harsh techniques were being used in the interrogation of an alleged al-Qaeda operative, according to documents the CIA released to Congress on Thursday.

Pelosi has insisted that she was not directly briefed by Bush administration officials that the practice was being actively employed. But Michael Sheehy, a top Pelosi aide, was present for a classified briefing that included Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), then the ranking minority member of the House intelligence committee, at which agency officials discussed the use of waterboarding on terrorism suspect Abu Zubaida.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 9th, 2009 at 1:22 pm and is filed under Terrorism, war, wordpress, disclosure, ethics, United States, Pelosi, Congress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.