How Low Can He Go?

"President Bush now says his 2004 victory over Democratic Sen. John Kerry, who is mulling a comeback in 2008, was inadvertently aided by al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

"And Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, who steadfastly refused to defend Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth when he ran Bush's campaign, now calls them 'heroes' who played a crucial role in vanquishing Kerry.

"For the first time, the president says he was helped by bin Laden, who put out a videotaped diatribe against Bush the Friday before the 2004 election.

"Bush said there were 'enormous amounts of discussion' inside his campaign about the 15-minute tape, which he called 'an interesting entry by our enemy' into the presidential race. . . .

" 'I thought it was going to help,' he decided. 'I thought it would help remind people that if bin Laden doesn't want Bush to be the president, something must be right with Bush.' "

Torture Watch

Anthony Lagouranis , a former army interrogator who himself used military working dogs during interrogations in Iraq, writes a gripping opinion piece in today's New York Times.

His conclusion: "Instead of a clear message prohibiting torture, our top commanders gave us a deliberate muddying of the waters.

"Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, recently shepherded a ban on torture through Congress. Then, while reluctantly signing the legislation, President Bush muddled this very clear ban on torture by stating that he would construe it 'in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the president.'

"Those who serve in the prisons of Iraq deserve to know clearly the difference between legal and illegal orders. Soldiers on the ground need a commander in chief who does not seek strained legalisms that 'permit' the use of torture. The McCain amendment, prohibiting 'cruel, inhuman, or degrading' treatment in all instances, is an accurate reflection of the true values of the military and American society. We should adhere to it strictly and in all cases. I know, from personal experience, that any leeway given will be used to maximum effect against detainees. No slope is more slippery, I learned in Iraq, than the one that leads to torture."

From a Washington Post editorial : "The de facto principles governing the punishment of U.S. personnel guilty of prisoner abuse since 2002 now are clear: Torturing a foreign prisoner to death is excusable. Authoring and implementing policies of torture may lead to promotion. But being pictured in an Abu Ghraib photograph that leaks to the press is grounds for a heavy prison sentence."

Scooter Libby Watch

Toni Locy writes for the Associated Press: "A federal judge signaled Monday that he is seeking ways to provide Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff general descriptions of highly classified documents to use in his defense against perjury charges.

"U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton . . . said he thought general descriptions of the briefings could help the defense for three specific periods: when Libby allegedly talked to three reporters about Plame; and two days before and after Libby testified before a federal grand jury and was interviewed by FBI agents.