Defending the Country is Hard

Conn Carroll / May 08, 2009

The Washington Post reports today:

Intelligence officials released documents this evening saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was briefed in September 2002 about the use of harsh interrogation tactics against al-Qaeda prisoners, seemingly contradicting her repeated statements over the past 18 months that she was never told that these techniques were actually being used.
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The issue of what Pelosi knew and when she knew it has become a matter of heated debate on Capitol Hill. Republicans have accused her of knowing for many years precisely the techniques CIA agents were using in interrogations, and only protesting the tactics when they became public and liberal antiwar activists protested.

We sympathize with Pelosi’s predicament. Having the courage and wisdom to make the right calls on questions of national security, and then stand behind them, is hard. Especially in an area with as little concrete guidance as detainee treatment. Heritage scholars David Rivkin, Lee Casey and Charles Stimson explain: (more…)