Did Torture Work?

The Tapes: A White House Wink and a Nod?

Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane write in the New York Times: "Lawyers within the clandestine branch of the Central Intelligence Agency gave written approval in advance to the destruction in 2005 of hundreds of hours of videotapes documenting interrogations of two lieutenants from Al Qaeda, according to a former senior intelligence official with direct knowledge of the episode. . . .

"The former intelligence official acknowledged that there had been nearly two years of debate among government agencies about what to do with the tapes, and that lawyers within the White House and the Justice Department had in 2003 advised against a plan to destroy them. But the official said that C.I.A. officials had continued to press the White House for a firm decision, and that the C.I.A. was never given a direct order not to destroy the tapes.

"'They never told us, "Hell, no,"' he said. 'If somebody had said, "You cannot destroy them," we would not have destroyed them.'"

Meanwhile, over at the White House, it's stonewall time, with a familiar excuse. As

Calvin Woodward writes for the Associated Press: "The White House typically stops commenting -- beyond broad talking points -- once an inquiry into a controversial matter is under way. When a reporter asked about another White House 'wall of silence,' Perino told the media in her morning briefing: 'I can see where that cynicism that usually drifts from this room could come up in this regard. What I can tell you is I try my best to get you as much information as I can.'"

From yesterday's briefing:

Q: "Can you comment on whether [then-deputy chief of staff, later White House counsel] Harriet Miers did, in fact, know about the CIA tapes and whether she told the CIA not to destroy them?"

Perino: "No. No. It's going to unfortunately be one of those briefings -- I'm not able to comment on anything regarding that, except for what I said on Friday -- which is now, and since then, the Justice Department and the CIA have started a preliminary inquiry. We are supportive of that. We are in the fact-gathering stage, and we are providing them information. So beyond that I am not able to comment or characterize."

Q: "Has the White House Counsel directed everybody here to preserve all the documents?"

Perino: "Yes."

Richard B. Schmitt writes in the Los Angeles Times: "With its admission last week that it destroyed taped interrogations of terror suspects, the CIA has raised questions about whether its penchant for secrecy has spilled over into illegal conduct, to the detriment of congressional investigators, private litigants, and the Sept. 11 panel.

"As a general matter, government agencies, like other institutions and individuals, are under a legal obligation to preserve relevant documents and information once it becomes apparent that they are of interest to official proceedings."