Reply #1: TPM Today's Must Read = "torture" is in the eye of the beholder. [View All]

Today's Must Read
By Paul Kiel - February 8, 2008 - http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/todays_must_read_272.php

If the Bush Administration has taught us anything, it's that "torture" is in the eye of the beholder. It's the singular truth behind the repeated proclamations that "we do not torture."

The recent PR offensive has employed the same legerdemain. Administration officials have been making public statements about the use of waterboarding based on the same set of facts for the past week. But a simple shift in emphasis leads to a different headline.

Take, for instance, CIA Director Michael Hayden's testimony before the House intelligence committee yesterday. The New York Times proclaims "C.I.A. Chief Doubts Tactic to Interrogate Is Still Legal." The AP goes with "CIA Boss: Waterboarding May Be Illegal."

Here's what Hayden said, ....... Now, Hayden could have simply said "yes." But "yes" would not have been the right answer, exactly. Because what Hayden is saying is really no different from what Attorney General Michael Mukasey has testified: that waterboarding could possibly be used ...........