The Right's Silence On The Dark Side

Alan Jacobs recently finished Jane Mayer's new book. He has some questions:

I have seen almost no response to this book in the conservative press. What’s up with that? The Dark Side has been reviewed in most major newspapers and magazines, but not from any of the conservative organs I’ve seen. Have I missed something? And if not, what are we to make of this silence? Do conservatives think Mayer’s book is so bad that it’s unworthy of response? (If so, they’re wrong.) Are they just trying to avoid acknowledging uncomfortable truths, and would prefer not to think about what the Bush administration has done in prosecuting its war on terror? Or perhaps the most interesting possibility do they agree that Mayer has accurately described the administration’s actions but simply judge those actions very differently, as necessary and even commendable responses to the Islamist threat?

There are two options: they are in denial; or they know that their administration has committed war crimes and simply cannot face it. Neither posture can last much longer, methinks.