torture

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Cheney 'Answers' Obama, Defends Bush Policy

Says he's 'firm proponent' of 'enhanced interrogation program'

(Newser) - Dick Cheney offered an “answer” to President Obama’s national-security speech today, standing up for the policies of the Bush administration and saying he remained “a strong proponent of our enhanced interrogation program,” CNN reports. “In the fight against terrorism,” Cheney said, “there is...

Obama: Gitmo Made Us Less Safe

(Newser) - Standing in front of the Constitution, President Obama today delivered a watershed speech on terrorism, arguing that President Bush’s approach to war was, “quite simply, a mess.” He outlined his plan to clean up, saying he’ll try Guantanamo detainees in both federal court and military commissions...

Mouthy Cheney Gains Popularity: Poll

He and Bush more popular now than when leaving office

(Newser) - A new poll shows that Dick Cheney, currently making headlines for his stance on torture, is gaining popularity. 37% of those polled by CNN hold a favorable opinion of the former vice president, up 8% from when he left office; 55% still view him unfavorably. Former president Bush, who’s...

Obama, Cheney Ready Dueling Gitmo Speeches

(Newser) - In what’s becoming a much-hyped political showdown, Barack Obama and Dick Cheney will deliver back-to-back speeches on national security this morning, CNN reports. Obama’s 10am speech will lay out a framework for closing Guantanamo Bay, offering a high-minded defense of his decisions so far regarding it and its...

Pelosi's Stubbornness Turns CIA Smoke Into PR Fire

(Newser) - The CIA debacle engulfing Nancy Pelosi stems from two key mistakes on the part of the House speaker, Jay Newton-Small writes in Time. Pelosi’s dangerous belief that media training is “a waste of her time” was demonstrated when she walked away from her own press conference on the...

Dems Go to Bat for Pelosi as Accusations Fly

Speaker 'not in any trouble' as loyal caucus backs her in CIA ruckus

(Newser) - Republicans have all but slapped a bulls-eye on Nancy Pelosi over what she knew about CIA interrogation practices, but as the Washington Post reports, House Democrats have rallied behind the speaker. In a sign of the considerable unity of the party caucus, several leading Democrats said yesterday that they believe...

Groups Move to Disbar Bush Lawyers Over Torture

Target Mukasey, Gonzalez, Ashcroft

(Newser) - A coalition of mostly left-leaning organizations is attempting to get a gaggle of Bush officials disbarred for sanctioning torture, the Legal Times reports. In complaints filed with five state bar associations today, the groups accuse ex-attorneys general Michael Mukasey, Alberto Gonzalez, and John Ashcroft—along with nine others—of violating...

McChrystal Call Shows Obama's Long Game: Sullivan

(Newser) - With liberals and anti-war activists growing increasingly restive over recent Obama decisions, Andrew Sullivan takes a hard look at the choice of Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal—a man with links to prisoner abuse, Camp Nama, and the Tillman debacle—to lead the war in Afghanistan. It looks like the latest...

The White House May Be Trying to Purge Pelosi
The White House May Be Trying
to Purge Pelosi
OPINION
May 18, 2009 12:13 PM CDT

The White House May Be Trying to Purge Pelosi

Kristol: Why else would CIA boss 'humiliate' his party's speaker?

(Newser) - After Nancy Pelosi suggested the CIA had misled Congress, the agency’s director fired back with a letter denying the claim. But the idea that Leon Panetta would send a letter “humiliating a House speaker of his own party” entirely of his own accord seems “almost inconceivable,”...

Abuse of Child 'Witches' Burgeoning

Growing number of kids suspected of witchcraft worldwide

(Newser) - Children dubbed “witches” are facing increasing abuse in Nigeria and elsewhere, advocates say. “They would take my clothes off, tie me up and beat me,” said a 14-year-old, whose grandfather concluded he was a “witch” 2 years ago when he cried at the threat of being...

Steele Dodges Torture Question
 Steele Dodges 
 Torture Question 
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP
May 17, 2009 11:13 AM CDT

Steele Dodges Torture Question

ACLU slams Obama; Liz Cheney: 'fantasies' spread about dad

(Newser) - Michael Steele has “a personal opinion” on whether the CIA’s interrogation techniques amounted to torture, but he refused to share it with David Gregory on Meet the Press today. “That’s not appropriate,” the RNC chairman said. But Steele did defend Dick Cheney and said Nancy...

Lefties: Obama's Becoming Dubya
 Lefties: Obama's 
 Becoming Dubya 
ANALYSIS
May 17, 2009 9:53 AM CDT

Lefties: Obama's Becoming Dubya

Left feeling spurned by new president's policies

(Newser) - Sorry, ladies: Hell has no fury like a political base scorned, and tensions are simmering among liberals, who feel spurned by President Obama, Josh Gerstein writes for Politico. With his reversals on military tribunals and releasing photos of abused detainees, and reluctance to tackle gay rights and immigration reform, some...

Bless You, Dick Cheney
Bless You,
Dick Cheney
OPINION
May 16, 2009 3:05 PM CDT

Bless You, Dick Cheney

Bill Kristol gives 'Darth Vader' the Most Valuable Republican award

(Newser) - Republicans should be shouting Dick Cheney’s name from the rafters, writes William Kristol in the Weekly Standard. While the rest of the party sat passively by as Obama attacked them on torture, “Dick Cheney—Darth Vader himself, Mr. Unpopularity … stepped onto the field.” Thanks to his...

Torture Tools For Sale to Nicest Bidder

Collection of medieval flesh-rippers to be sold to aid human rights organizations

(Newser) - A huge collection of medieval tongue tearers, thumbscrews, and assorted flesh-rippers is hitting the auction block soon, but ghouls and dictators won't be welcome bidders, the Los Angeles Times reports. The owner—moved to sell the inherited collection by the debate on Bush-era harsh interrogation—is keen to ensure it...

Pelosi Backtracks on CIA Claims
Pelosi Backtracks on CIA Claims
May 16, 2009 2:16 AM CDT

Pelosi Backtracks on CIA Claims

Speakers shifts focus to Bush administration after Panetta rebuff

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi retreated yesterday from her claim the CIA lied to Congress about its interrogation program and shifted the blame to the Bush administration, Politico reports. The speaker said her criticism is "separate from my respect for those in the intelligence community who work to keep our country safe....

CIA 'Briefed Truthfully' in '02: Panetta

(Newser) - CIA director Leon Panetta today denied Nancy Pelosi’s claim that the agency misled lawmakers in a 2002 briefing, the Hill reports. In a memo to employees, Panetta said “CIA officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, describing ‘the enhanced techniques that had been employed.’...

'Moral Calculus' Made Torture OK: Krauthammer

Krauthammer doing 'moral calculus'

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi’s “contemptible hypocrisy” on the torture issue tells us a great deal about the “moral calculus” behind the issue, writes Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post. “Our jurisprudence has the ‘reasonable man’ standard,” he argues, which asks a jury to decide what a...

Cheney Didn't Even Torture for Right Reasons
Cheney Didn't Even Torture for Right Reasons
OPINION
May 15, 2009 11:40 AM CDT

Cheney Didn't Even Torture for Right Reasons

VP wanted to link Iraq and al-Qaeda, not stop next attack: Powell aide

(Newser) - The interrogation methods Dick Cheney so highly touts were put in place in 2002 not to prevent another terror attack, a former aide to Colin Powell writes in the Washington Note, but to dig up an Iraq-al-Qaeda connection to justify going to war. And it was Cheney himself, “frightened”...

Pelosi Raises Stakes in Torture Debate

Speaker puts herself at center of storm over Bush policies

(Newser) - Whether by accident or design, Nancy Pelosi has turned the debate on the Bush administration's anti-terror program into a high-stakes game of brinksmanship, Dan Balz writes in the Washington Post. Pelosi's declaration yesterday that the CIA lied to Congress amounts to "a declaration of war," Balz writes, setting...

Pelosi's CIA Charges Hardly Jibe With Obama Talk Points

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi’s accusation that the CIA lied to Congress about waterboarding will likely have broad political consequences, Chris Cillizza writes in the Washington Post. In the short term, Pelosi has stolen President Obama’s thunder on credit-card reform and could force the early announcement of a Supreme Court nominee...

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