The earlier post on this subject ended up more rambling than I had hoped. The salient points were there but may have been lost to the reader because I was not sufficiently concise. Let me try again.
a) The Senate Select Committee's report was a terribly one-sided, partisan attack on the Bush administration.
b) The news media is incorrectly reporting that the CIA under Bush engaged in torture. This is not a fact but strictly the opinion of a few lawmakers and biased reporters.
c) There is certainly room for concluding that torture resulted during the first few years after 9/11 for the non-sanctioned activities of a few CIA operatives but even those conclusions are opinions.
d) Careful reading of the applicable statutes reveals that the so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" we're not necessarily torture. That interpretation remains in the eye of the beholder until the criminal courts interpret the law.
e) in spite of its inadequacies, release of the Senate report is good for the country as long as everyone understands that it is biased.
