I'm Glad I'm Not Condoleezza Rice

Because if I were, I would have to fly to Europe and defend the Torture President's recently disclosed policy of flying suspected terrorists to secret prisons so the CIA can do to them there what it cannot do on US territory, offering only this revolting mixture of disingenuous denials and veiled threats:

First, the disingenuous denial:

"She said the US would use "every lawful weapon to defeat these terrorists", who were often essentially stateless and did not fit into any traditional military or criminal justice system...But she said the US always...abided by the law and did not allow torture."

Oh really? Well, if our tactics are so unimpeachable, maybe Rice would care to explain why we have to go to such efforts to secretly shuffle prisoners to countries with poor human rights records, instead of questioning them on US soil. Maybe she could explain too why the Administration so earnestly resists even a confidential judicial assessment of its methods. And maybe she could explain exactly what rises to the level of "torture" in the Torture President's lexicon, just so we can make sure we're all on the same page.

But oh wait, we can't discuss such things in public because, as Rice also explained (via CNN),

"We cannot discuss information that would compromise the success of intelligence, law enforcement, and military operations. We expect other nations share this view."

Next, the veiled threats: should any uppity European governments dare to launch an inquiry into what the CIA has been doing in European airspace or at European airports, Rice warns them that the US government won't take the hit alone...

"It is up to those governments and their citizens to decide if they wish to work with us," she said, "and decide how much sensitive information they can make public...The United States has fully respected the sovereignty of other countries that have cooperated in these matters."

And let's face it, Europe, you love torture as much as we do, even if you aren't willing to admit it publicly: Rendition, she said,

has helped prevent terrorist attacks and saved lives "in Europe as well as in the United States and other countries."

"So now before the next attack," Rice said, "we should all face the hard choices that democratic governments face."

This from the Torture President's chief diplomat. Clearly the goal here is not so much to allay the popular concerns of European electorates, which this Administration has already written off as impossible to win over, but to bludgeon European governments into suppressing any investigation or questioning of CIA activities on European soil. My guess is that many of these governments either knew exactly what was going on or decided not to ask so as not to be held responsible later. This is Rice's way of telling them that they can't have their cake and eat it too -- they can't cooperate with us, then fake indignation to assuage voters and let the US take the fall.

My expectation and my hope is that this will backfire in a big way. Hungry opposition leaders and a very angry public are baying for the truth. And these kinds of statements will only fan those flames.

I hope.

To again paraphrase Brad DeLong:

Impeach the Torture President and the Torture Vice-President. Do it now.