Torture (or "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques," in misleading bureaucrat-speak) did not make America safer. A Senate Intelligence Committee report says as much, as do the people who actually interrogated high value targets and obtained actionable intelligence by not torturing them. But because of the crushing guilt one must experience knowing they defiled the soul of America, the people who promoted the acts continue to defend them, and in the case of the man at the CIA who was in charge of the program, Jose Rodriguez, make money off them. Rodriguez sat down with 60 Minutes last night to promote his book, "Hard Measures." Here are the comments that should be read at his war crimes trial and not heard in a forum for self-promotion in front of millions of viewers. more ›

Former President George W. Bush told the Economic Club of Grand Rapids, Michigan yesterday, "Yeah, we waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. I'd do it again to save lives." The Al Qaeda operative may be tried in New York City on terror charges... or the Obama Administration might choose a military tribunal. more ›

Finally! Thanks to MSNBC's Morning Joe, we get to hear what former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani thinks of the debate surrounding waterboarding of terror suspects during the Bush administration. Giuliani first said, "Sometimes I think people get so preoccupied and obsessed with the rights of terrorist that they forget" about the need for getting information from the suspects. more ›

Another day, another tough crowd for former Secretary of State Condolezza Rice. Last week, Stanford students put her on the defensive on the Bush administration's stance on torture; yesterday, a 4th grader from a D.C. school asked her what she thought about the Obama administration's criticism of Bush-era methods. Rice said, "Let me just say that President Bush was very clear that he wanted to do everything he could to protect the country. After September 11, we wanted to protect the country. But he was also very clear that we would do nothing, nothing, that was against the law or against our obligations internationally.. So the president was only willing to authorize policies that were legal in order to protect the country," adding, "I hope you understand that it was a very difficult time. We were all so terrified of another attack on the country. September 11 was the worst day of my life in government, watching 3,000 Americans die." Flashback to Rice's 2004 testimony to the 9/11 Commission, admitting she saw a memo titled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States" in August 2001. more ›

With the release of CIA documents showing that terror suspects were waterboarded—FireDogLake found that 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times in one month—President Obama visited the CIA yesterday to reassure the agency that his administration wouldn't prosecute officials "for following legal advice," the NY Times reports (though some lawyers could be prosecuted for crafting the advice). Obama also addressed criticism that he was naive for releasing the memos, "What makes the United States special and what makes you special is precisely the fact that we are willing to uphold our values and ideals even when it’s hard.” (The Daily Show took on the torture memos last night, saving Peggy Noonan's despair about the memos' release for last). The ACLU has called for the Department of Justice "to appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate torture crimes under the Bush administration as well as a Select Committee in Congress to investigate torture and pass legislation to prevent a reoccurrence of past violations of the law." more ›

As you know by now, the fine folks at Creative Time have brought the torture-tastic waterboarding to Coney Island, via artist Steve Powers. Last weekend Powers and a trio of masochistic lawyers (is there any other kind?) upped the ante by submitting to actual waterboarding administered by a professional interrogator in a ski mask. No footage of that yet, but if you haven't made it over to see the animatronic "Waterboard Thrill Ride" yourself, here's some video (the Sesame Street theme music definitely ups the creepy factor). more ›

As part of a Creative Time initiative called “Democracy in America: The National Campaign,” artist Steve Powers has turned a former photo booth on Coney Island into "The Waterboarding Thrill Ride," an animatronic diorama that depicts a prisoner being waterboarded. The Times describes the scene:

If you climb up a few cinderblock steps to the small window, you can look through the bars at a scene meant to invoke a Guantánamo Bay interrogation. A lifesize figure in a dark sweatshirt, the hood drawn low over his face, leans over another figure in an orange jumpsuit, his face covered by a towel and his body strapped down on a tilted surface. more ›

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who federal authorities accuse of proposing and overseeing the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S., appeared in a military courtroom today at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Mohammed said he would represent himself and, when told he could face the death penalty if convicted, "Yes, this is what I wish, to be a martyr for a long time. I will, God willing, have this, by you." more ›

The Pentagon has charged six men accused of planning the September 11, 2001 attacks and will seek the death penalty (the Pentagon's terse press release was titled "Defense Department Seeks Death Penalty for Six Guantanamo Bay Detainees"). These would be "the first trials under the terrorism-era military tribunal system." more ›