The Administration's Shifting Positions

If you are as baffled by the series of different explanations given for the destruction of tapes relating to illegal torture techniques, you haven't been following this story for very long. Scott Horton offers the following summary:

Friday we were told, in highly implausible statements coming from General Hayden, that the CIA had acted completely according to Hoyle. The issue had been considered, reviewed and cleared. Twenty-four hours later, there is a radical shift of course. Now we learn that the White House didn’t know about the decision and certainly wouldn’t have approved it. Here’s Donna Perino at the White House giving the new line, torn from an episode of “Hogan’s Heroes”: Bush knew nothing.

And the official posture“knew nothing about it”spreads very quickly, down as far as people can plausibly assert it. Even CIA acting General Counsel Joe Rizzo (a known torture-advocate, whose nomination to be general counsel got a thumbs down from the Senate for that reason) asserts he knew nothing of the decision and would never have approved. Only yesterday, Rizzo’s approval was being touted as support for the destruction. Rizzo is a figure of amazing dexterity, even for a Bush Administration lawyer involved with the torture program.

What a difference a day makes. Why the dramatic shift?

Read the whole thing. If you buy the Rodriguez scapegoat meme, you're dreaming.