Bush's Exhibit A for Torture

There are also conflicting views on to how long Zubaida was tortured.

According to an account last week from former CIA agent John Kiriakou (see Friday's column), Zubaida broke after 35 seconds of waterboarding.

But Eggen and Pincus write that other official said "harsh tactics used on him at a secret detention facility in Thailand went on for weeks or, depending on the account, even months.

"The videotaping of Abu Zubaida in 2002 went on day and night throughout his interrogation, including waterboarding, and while he was sleeping in his cell, intelligence officials said. 'Several hundred hours' of videotapes were destroyed in November 2005, a senior intelligence officer said. The CIA has said it ceased waterboarding in 2003."

Judge Orders Hearing on Tapes

Matt Apuzzo writes for the Associated Press: "A federal judge has ordered a hearing on whether the Bush administration violated a court order by destroying CIA interrogation videos of terror suspects.

"U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy rejected calls from the Justice Department to stay out of the matter. He ordered lawyers to appear before him Friday morning."

Immunity Vote Delayed

Eric Lichtblau writes in the New York Times: "In a setback for the White House, Senate Democrats on Monday put off until at least next month any decision on whether to give legal protection to the phone carriers that helped with the National Security Agency's eavesdropping program.

"The Bush administration had pushed for immediate passage of legislation to grant immunity to the phone companies as part of a broader expansion of the N.S.A.'s wiretapping authorities. But that will not happen now."

Jonathan Weisman and Paul Kane write in The Washington Post that the turnabout came when Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) "abruptly withdrew" the legislation.

"Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) -- a presidential candidate who returned from Iowa Sunday night to fight the measure -- quickly claimed victory after the bill's withdrawal, and he again vowed to 'utilize all the tools available' to block passage once Reid calls it up in January. . . .

"The White House yesterday strongly defended its push for immunity and raised the prospect of a veto if Congress sends the president a surveillance bill without indemnity."

From Sen. Edward Kennedy's floor statement: "Think about what we've been hearing from the White House in this debate. The President has said that American lives will be sacrificed if Congress does not change FISA. But he has also said that he will veto any FISA bill that does not grant retroactive immunity. No immunity, no new FISA bill. So if we take the President at his word, he is willing to let Americans die to protect the phone companies. . . .