By Benjamin G. Davis, Associate Professor of Law, University of Toledo College of Law
“One former official said that in practice, the CIA briefed Bush’s national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, on the program and she then briefed the president.” (http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/25113-focus-senate-report-bush-era-torture-was-unnecessary)
This transparent effort to insulate former President Bush from the torture he put in place by some anonymous former official should not misdirect us. This little trick was the same one that was attempted to be played on us about the intelligence agencies mislead the President on the evidence for going into the War in Iraq. More recent reporting has shown that as of January 30, 2001 or seven months BEFORE 9/11, War in Iraq was on the agenda. Literally this was within days of Bush taking the oath of office.
Bush’s statement he was briefed in his book gets played like Bush’s denial of the use of torture – invisible footnotes that we are now supposed to see were there.
No invisible footnotes are getting him out of this sling and the disastrous Presidency from which I fear that America will not recover.