Bush vs. Reality

And yet, as Thomas writes: "In recent interviews with Newsweek reporters, U.S. intelligence officers say they have little -- if any -- evidence that useful intelligence has been obtained using techniques generally understood to be torture. . . .

"Meanwhile, some experts on torture say the debate over acceptable techniques helped create the 2004 scandal at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq." And over the same time period, "Special Forces soldiers and CIA operatives were roughing up so many prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan that at least a score died."

And lest we forget: "The Bush administration has tried another approach to end-run critics: farming out torture."

Oops

Scott Shane writes in the New York Times: "In an embarrassing turnabout, the Department of Justice backed away Wednesday from a denial by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales of responsibility for the treatment of a Canadian who was seized by American authorities in 2002. The man was deported to Syria, where he was imprisoned and beaten.

"Asked at a news conference on Tuesday about a Canadian commission's finding that the man, Maher Arar, was wrongly sent to Syria and tortured there, Mr. Gonzales replied, 'Well, we were not responsible for his removal to Syria.' He added, 'I'm not aware that he was tortured.'

"The attorney general's comments caused puzzlement because they followed front-page news articles of the findings of the Canadian commission. It reported that based on inaccurate information from Canada about Mr. Arar's supposed terrorist ties, American officials ordered him taken to Syria, an action documented in public records.

"On Wednesday, a Justice Department spokesman said Mr. Gonzales had intended to make only a narrow point: that deportations are now handled by the Department of Homeland Security, not the Department of Justice."

About the Timing

Guy Dinmore writes in the Financial Times: "The Bush administration had to empty its secret prisons and transfer terror suspects to the military-run detention centre at Guantánamo this month in part because CIA interrogators had refused to carry out further interrogations and run the secret facilities, according to former CIA officials and people close to the programme. . . .

"When Mr Bush announced the suspension of the secret prison programme in a speech before the fifth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, some analysts thought he was trying to gain political momentum before the November midterm congressional elections. . . .

"But the former CIA officials said Mr Bush's hand was forced because interrogators had refused to continue their work until the legal situation was clarified because they were concerned they could be prosecuted for using illegal techniques."

Accepting Advice?

Michael Peel and Guy Dinmore write in the Financial Times: "The US has set out on a 'new course' in engaging with its international allies over its treatment of terrorist suspects, according to a top Bush administration lawyer.

"John Bellinger, legal adviser to Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, challenged Europeans to offer constructive suggestions about how to deal with this 'really difficult' area, rather than simply making 'criticism after criticism after criticism'. . . .