Exposing the lies

Apologists for the bush administration and torture claim that it produced important information that has kept us safe from another attack. We're still waiting for the examples. Karl Rove claims to offer one, but it is a bogus claim.

Rove says that torture works because we got information from using the enhanced techniques on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (the one who was waterboarded 183 times in one month) about a plot for a major attack on the west coast. Implying that the info stopped the plot.

Karl is wrong. Here's the story. In 2002 conventional intelligence intercepted plans for a major attack on the west coast. They were able to stop the plotters, but we didn't know what exactly their plan was.

It was only in 2005 that KSM told us that it was to fly a plane into the tallest building in Los Angeles. We don't even know for sure that he was telling the truth, but information obtained from him under torture did not PREVENT the attack, because he was not even in our custody in 2002.

So Karl is conflating 'finding out what the plot had been' with 'stopping the plot.'

He cannot claim that this was an example where torture prevented an attack.

But Rove and his ilk don't worry about such fine points of truth. It's just whether they can make a useful story to support their position. We're still waiting for a valid example of where torture could even conceivably be justified because it stopped a major attack.

Ralph