MORE TORTURE DOCS….Unfortunately, this now falls into “dog bites man” territory, but the White House has released documents to Congress confirming that, yes, various torture techniques were discussed at meetings of very high level officials in early 2002:
Senior White House officials played a central role in deliberations in the spring of 2002 about whether the Central Intelligence Agency could legally use harsh interrogation techniques while questioning an operative of Al Qaeda, Abu Zubaydah, according to newly released documents.
….The meetings were led by Condoleezza Rice, then the national security adviser, and attended by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Attorney General John Ashcroft and other top administration officials.
….The documents were provided to The New York Times by Senator Carl Levin….Mr. Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said the new documents showed that top Bush administration officials were more actively engaged in the debate about the limits of lawful interrogation than the White House had previously acknowledged.
“So far, there has been little accountability at higher levels,” Mr. Levin said. “Here you’ve got some evidence that there was discussion about those harsh techniques in the White House.”
What further documents are left to be released? Probably plenty. Will we get to see them when a new administration takes office? Unfortunately, my guess is no.
