EDITORIAL: Pelosi's Amnesia ( Either that or she slept through CIA briefings )
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Las Vegas Review-Journal ^ | May. 09, 2009 | staff
Posted on Sun 10 May 2009 05:58:39 AM PDT by kellynla
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been a leading critic of the Bush administration for authorizing the "torture" (waterboarding) of three captured al-Qaida leaders, despite the fact that former Vice President Dick Cheney says the interrogation methods yielded valuable information from men who had not previously been forthcoming, leading the terrorists to spill the beans on planned attacks that could have killed thousands more Americans.
Now it appears Ms. Pelosi knew all about the methods being used, and raised not a peep of objection. Unless she wants to argue she was dozing during CIA briefings.
Congressional leaders were briefed dozens of times on the CIA's use of severe interrogation methods on al-Qaida suspects, according to new information released by the Obama administration Thursday.
A chart compiled by the CIA shows that Ms. Pelosi, D-Calif., was briefed on Sept. 4, 2002, on the agency's interrogation of alleged al-Qaida operative Abu Zubaydah, and that the session covered "the particular (enhanced interrogation techniques) that had been employed."
As recently as a week ago, Ms. Pelosi contended, "We were not -- I repeat were not -- told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used."
Brendan Daly, a spokesman for Ms. Pelosi, said Thursday that "the briefers described these techniques, said they were legal, but said that waterboarding had not been used."