As clear as it is that some commentators are really hoping that torture helped extract the information that led to bin Laden's death (which proves they aren't really interested in what is effective at keeping us safe, they just really like torture for some sick reason), Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee has said:"To the best of our knowledge, based on a look, none of it came as a result of harsh interrogation practices," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee in a wide-ranging press conference.
Moreover, Feinstein added, nothing about the sequence of events that culminated in Sunday's raid vindicates the Bush-era techniques, nor their use of black sites -- secret prisons, operated by the CIA.
"Absolutely not, I do not," Feinstein said. "I happen to know a good deal about how those interrogations were conducted, and in my view nothing justifies the kind of procedures that were used."
This is a mix of fresh, on-the-record information and push back against Republicans -- many of them former Bush administration officials -- who are tying themselves in knots to claim that Bush's interrogation policies got the ball rolling on the bin Laden killing.
Read it all at Talking Points Memo.
We also now know that:
"Mohammed did not reveal the names while being subjected to the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, former officials said. He identified them many months later under standard interrogation, they said, leaving it once again up for debate as to whether the harsh technique was a valuable tool or an unnecessarily violent tactic."
Hat tip: Memorandum.
Wes Messamore,
Editor in Chief, THL
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