Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Justice Department Redacted Memo on Detainees

Justice Redacted Memo on Detainees (washingtonpost.com)

The right will be unmoved by this. I know.

My friend Howie will continue to insist that there is no "smoking gun." It was just a few bad apples in an isolated incident. Rumsfeld didn't know about it. Bush didn't know about it. No one knew about it.

But read this article and consider these portions:

The revelations in the memo, released yesterday by Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) , generally amplify previously disclosed FBI concerns that military interrogators at the island prison were using coercive interrogation methods that could compromise any evidence of terrorist activities they obtained.

[FBI agents who had witnessed interrogations] met with Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, who took over the prison in October 2002, and another Army general to "explain our position (Law Enforcement techniques) vs. DOD," the author wrote in a previously disclosed portion of the memo. "Both agreed the Bureau has their way of doing business and DOD has their marching orders from" Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

[Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra] said "DOD did review this" memo before its initial release last year. He said he could not comment on whether the Defense Department had requested the redactions or explain why he could not comment.


The right will be unmoved by this. I know.

Will we have forgotten it by next week?

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