The Ticking Bomb

Attempted justification of torture always includes the ticking bomb excuse – somebody has knowledge of some heinous plan about to be carried out that will kill American citizens, and we are obligated to torture that person to get that information.

Here’s your ticking bomb:

Two U.S. intelligence officers confirm that Vice President Cheney’s office suggested waterboarding an Iraqi prisoner, a former intelligence official for Saddam Hussein, who was suspected to have knowledge of a Saddam-al Qaeda connection.

  Daily Beast

Torture to try to provide cover for a bogus claim.

Or how about this ticking bomb…

[T]here was a separate, second round of interrogations in early 2004, specifically conducted to answer new questions from the 9/11 Commission after its lawyers had been left unsatisfied by the agency’s internal interrogation reports.

[...]

A former senior U.S. intelligence official told me the Commission never expressed any concerns about techniques and even pushed for a second round of interrogations in early 2004, as the Commission was finishing up its work. The second round of interrogations sought by the Commission involved more than 30 separate interrogation sessions.

[...]

At least four operatives whose interrogation figured in the 9/11 Commission Report have claimed that they told interrogators critical information as a way to stop being "tortured."

Tortured to beef up a 9/11 Commission report.

And now we have Dick Cheney in every media venue possible pressing to keep torture evidence hidden and to prevent investigations.

Today Cheney is the most visible -- and controversial -- critic of President Obama's national security policies and, to the alarm of many people in the Republican Party, the most forceful and uncompromising defender of the Bush administration's record. His running argument with the new administration has spawned a noisy side debate all its own: By leading the criticism, is Cheney doing more harm than good to the causes he has taken up and to the political well-being of his party?

[...]

Cheney remains powerful enough that most of his GOP critics are not willing to take him on in public. "The fact that most people want to talk [without attribution] shows what a problem it continues to be," said one Republican strategist who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to be candid. "Cheney continues to be a force among many members of our base, and while he is entirely unhelpful, no one has the standing to show him the door."

[...]

Mary Matalin, who was a spokeswoman for Cheney during the early years of the Bush presidency, believes her former boss is motivated mainly by his principles. Had Obama not moved so precipitously to undo the Bush policies about which he feels so strongly, she believes, Cheney would have held his fire

  WaPo

I’d say it’s much more likely that he’s out there hammering away because the threat of investigations and revelations (of photos, etc.) risks putting Big Dick in a court of law trying him for numerous crimes.

Cheney has made clear that part of his motivation is to defend against possible legal action against Bush officials who authorized or carried out the controversial interrogation policies. He recently told Stephen F. Hayes of the Weekly Standard that he remembers how, during the Iran-contra scandal in the Reagan administration, senior officials often ran for cover, leaving "the little guys out to dry." He said he is determined to defend those people now. "I don't know whether anybody else will, but I sure as hell will," he told Hayes.

Riiiiight…he’s doing it for the “little guys”. I remember a little guy named Scooter whose career was destroyed while Cheney let Scooter take the fall for him. And another named Whittington whom Cheney shot in the face and who then went public with an apology to Cheney! Yeah, that Dick, he always stands up for the little guys.

If only the Big Dick would go back to his undisclosed location and keep as quiet as he did when he was VP. But I guess he really can’t afford to. And I have to wonder why he still has all this power. And is he part of the reason Obama reversed himself on release of photos?

Liz Cheney strongly disagreed with the claim that her father's vocal defense of Bush administration policies has caused significant unrest within the GOP. [...] "He's got hundreds of people coming to him saying, 'Please keep doing what you're doing,' " she said.

How many Democrats are there in Congress?

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.