Tortured Answers

I know, I'm coming late to the game as far as George Bush's statement, "We do not torture." But I've spent a large chunk of the day at the doctor's, trying to figger out why I can't stop coughing (I'm getting a CT Scan tomorrow--my first!).

First, here's Salon's War Room's take:

Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, as the Iraq death toll mounted, as gas prices rose and his top aide was indicted, Dick Cheney has been pretty near invisible. The Washington Post offers one reason why: The vice president has been busy waging "an intense and largely unpublicized campaign" to prevent the imposition of any limits on how the military, or at least the CIA, treats detainees in U.S. custody. Cheney's unyielding approach on the question of torture puts him at odds with everyone from Condoleezza Rice to John McCain -- and that's just on the Republican side of the equation.

The president was asked today whether he sided with Cheney. His answer: "Our country is at war, and our government has the obligation to protect the American people." To be fair, Bush did elaborate. He said that the executive branch and the legislative branch both have an obligation to protect the American people, and he insisted that "anything we do to that effort, to that end, in this effort, any activity we conduct, is within the law." Then he added: "We do not torture."

Really? Are we sure. Facade Friend Jeff notes this over at his blog:

I suspect that Bush's idea of "torture" is more akin to having someone in his inner circle tell him the truth about something. But this is a great opportunity for him to do something right. Back up your words, Mr. President. Provide compelling, empirical, unbiased evidence that your administration does not torture. Let international inspectors visit the detainees (such as at the recent "black sites" in eastern Europe). We no longer believe what you say, so show us.

Hey, I can dream, can't I?

But back to the heart of the torture matter--i.e., Cheney's black heart. Here's a tidbit from Newsweek, via Dan Froomkin at the WaPo:

Daniel Klaidman and Michael Isikoff write in Newsweek: "Last Tuesday, Senate Republicans were winding up their weekly luncheon in the Capitol when the vice president rose to speak. Staffers were quickly ordered out of the room -- what Cheney had to say was for senators only. Normally taciturn, Cheney was uncharacteristically impassioned, according to two GOP senators who did not want to be on the record about a private meeting. He was very upset over the Senate's overwhelming passage of an amendment that prohibits inhumane treatment of terrorist detainees. Cheney said the law would tie the president's hands and end up costing 'thousands of lives.' He dramatized the point, conjuring up a scenario in which a captured Qaeda operative, another Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, refuses to give his interrogators details about an imminent attack. 'We have to be able to do what is necessary,' the vice president said, according to one of the senators who was present. The lawmakers listened, but they weren't moved to act. Sen. John McCain, who authored the anti-torture amendment, spoke up. 'This is killing us around the world,' he said. The House, which will likely vote on the measure soon, is also expected to pass it by a large margin. . . .

And here's some more from that WaPo article noted in the War Room post:

Increasingly, however, Cheney's positions are being opposed by other administration officials, including Cabinet members, political appointees and Republican lawmakers who once stood firmly behind the administration on all matters concerning terrorism.

Personnel changes in President Bush's second term have added to the isolation of Cheney, who previously had been able to prevail in part because other key parties to the debate -- including Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and White House counsel Harriet Miers -- continued to sit on the fence.

But in a reflection of how many within the administration now favor changing the rules, Elliot Abrams, traditionally one of the most hawkish voices in internal debates, is among the most persistent advocates of changing detainee policy in his role as the deputy national security adviser for democracy, according to officials familiar with his role.

At the same time Rice has emerged as an advocate for changing the rules to "get out of the detainee mess," said one senior U.S. official familiar with discussions. Her top advisers, along with their Pentagon counterparts, are working on a package of proposals designed to address all controversial detainee issues at once, instead of dealing with them on a piecemeal basis.

Cheney's camp is a "shrinking island," said one State Department official who, like other administration officials quoted in this article, asked not to be identified because public dissent is strongly discouraged by the White House.

Daily Kos diarist litho has some interesting analysis of this WaPo article, and in particular the "shrinking island" money quote:

Now, it certainly is true that the WH has maintained a fairly effective degree of discipline ever since Bush got elected. It's also true that discipline has been breaking down this year to an unprecedented degree, and some people have been leaking against the president's interests in order to save their own skins.

But this leak serves the president's interests by distancing him from an increasingly unpopular and frankly failed policy. It also is sourced to multiple individuals, all of them on message, in many different government agencies. In other words, this looks like a coordinated campaign, giving Cheney the shaft and attempting to leave Bush smelling like roses.

The White House is getting desperate. They must be thinking that if they can contain the Fitzmas damage to the vice president's office, they might be able to get out of this alive.

And here's Don Gonyea from NPR's All Things Considered:

Bush: We do not torture:

Gonyea: That made it sound open and shut, but the manner in which the issue was raised made it clear that the administration has a more complicated position on it. Notice the way the President was asked that question today.

Questioner: And do you agree with Vice President Cheney that the CIA should be exempt from legislation to ban torture?

Gonyea: The President did not refer to the Vice President in his answer, but this much is clear: whatever statements the White House may make on torture, the Vice President continues to work behind the scenes to defend the policy that allows detainees to be treated differently.