Will the real John Brennan please stand up?
by digby
I have seen—we all have seen—how our fight against terrorists sometimes led us to stray from our ideals as a nation. Tactics such as waterboarding were not in keeping with our values as Americans, and these practices have been rightly terminated and should not, and will not, happen again.
I believe President Obama is absolutely correct: such practices not only fail to advance our counterterrorism efforts, they actually set back our efforts. They are a recruitment bonanza for terrorists, increase the determination of our enemies, and decrease the willingness of other nations to cooperate with us. In short, they undermine our national security.
“There was very valuable intelligence obtained from individuals who had been, at some point, subjected to E.I.T.’s,” Mr. Brennan said.
He’s very good at telling people what they want to hear.
Update:
This pretty much sums up where we are:
Brennan said while the methods were legal then and subsequently banned, he would “defer to policymakers” if the CIA is asked to torture again.
h/t @froomkin