Judy Miller must think she’s smarter than Susan Crawford. Crawford, after all, while still convening authority for military commissions in Gitmo, admitted that Mohammed al-Qahtani had been tortured. And by that, she was referring to the treatment that started in November 2002, nine months after Gitmo opened; she was talking about conduct that was ultimately approved in large part by Rummy.
Susan Crawford ought to know, and she says we tortured Qahtani.
But Judy Miller now says we didn’t torture at Gitmo–and any abuse occurred in the first four months after Gitmo was opened–in May 2002 and earlier. (h/t fatster)
“Even though this hasn’t been true for many, many years now,” she explained. “No one was ever waterboarded at Guantanamo, according to Guantanamo officials,” Miller continued. “Torture as ordinary people would call it took place only during four months when it first opened…like sleep deprivation, being doused with ice cold water…things that don’t meet current standards.”
What’s particularly interesting about this opinion from someone whose opinion no one much heeds anymore is that she had a different take on Gitmo back in May.
Joel, I’m sorry, but I was actually in a jail with — one floor away — from Zacarias Moussaoui. … We know how to do this. Believe me, we can do it. The issue is, is it politically acceptable to the American people? That we’re not sure about.
Back in May (just a month after Judy admitted she had a hard time reading the torture memos her buddy Dick had conjured up), she said we know how to close Gitmo. But back in September, Judy said we had to have Gitmo or a place like it.
While the administration ponders the detainees’ legal fate, it seems pointless to spend more money and energy moving them to “Gitmo North” — maximum-security prisons in the United States where they may be far more harshly treated.
It’s time for the Obama administration to acknowledge that Gitmo, or another center like it, will be needed as long as the war on terrorism — no matter what our commander in chief calls it — endures.
Now, I never really expected intellectual consistency from Judy Miller. But I do find it interesting that she’s hitting the airwaves at the moment making claims that are transparently untrue.
Sort of makes you wonder who’s behind her new opinions about Gitmo, doesn’t it?