This story would be a lot more interesting if the word “Concerning” were replaced with “Using.” But you work with what you have.
Nancy Pelosi said one thing, then the CIA said a different thing. I guess that’s what you get when you try to through the sppoks under the bus and claim you didn’t know anything about what they were doing.
Now, the Republicans are calling for an investigation and the Democrats say, “Let’s do it“:
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., called Republican challenges to Pelosi’s assertion a diversion from the real question of whether the Bush administration tortured terrorist suspects. Nonetheless, he acknowledged the controversy should be resolved.
Democrats will hold a series of hearings on Justice Department memos released last month that justified rough tactics against detainees, including waterboarding — simulated drowning — and sleep deprivation.
While Democrats want the hearings to focus on what they call torture, Republicans have tried to turn the issue to their advantage by complaining that Pelosi and other Democrats knew of the tactics but didn’t protest. Pelosi was briefed in 2002 while on the House Intelligence Committee.
Hoyer, asked at a news conference whether Democrats were inviting political problems for themselves by holding hearings, said, “I think the facts need to get out.
“I think the Republicans are simply trying to distract the American public with who knew what when. My response to that is, look, the issue is not what was said or what was known; the question and focus ought to be on what was done.”
I think the stink the Democrats have caused over the use of harsh interrogation methods, calling it torture and Bush a war criminal, makes the issue a matter of who knew what and when. If they knew that Bush was authorizing what they have called torture, and they didn’t say anything about it, then they guilty too.
San Fran Nan helped to make this bed. The CIA is gonna make her lie in it. The question is can we count on the Democrats to do a thorough investigation of one of their own?
Hat Tip: Flopping Aces
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