No Big Deal

by Turkana

It should be no surprise that this news came out on this very busy day. As reported by Reuters:

The CIA on three occasions shortly after the September 11 attacks used a widely condemned interrogation technique known as waterboarding, CIA Director Michael Hayden told Congress on Tuesday.

"Waterboarding has been used on only three detainees," Hayden told the Senate Intelligence Committee, publicly specifying the number of subjects and naming them for the first time, as Congress considers banning the technique.

It's nice that someone's finally admitted it. Of course, Attorney General Michael Mukasey won't say whether or not waterboarding is illegal, former Attorney General Abu Gonzales said it may not violate the Geneva Conventions, which are, in any event, quaint and obsolete, and Bush has already assured us he doesn't torture, anyway. So, because we all believe whatever this administration tells us, this admission shouldn't strike us as being that big a deal. But just in case it somehow does, we should take comfort in knowing that waterboarding has only happened three times. And until there's any evidence to the contrary, we'll believe that, too. Right?