Greenwald: Feinstein and Wyden - torture walk-back, updated #3.

[annabanana]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/12/04/feinstein/index.html

Why do Feinstein and Wyden sound much different on the torture issue now?

UPDATE III: Sen. Feinstein has just now issued another statement, to Time's Scherer, asserting -- much like Wyden just did -- "that she still wants a law that mandates the Field Manual as the sole interrogation standard, but that she may be willing to be talked back from that position by the Obama Administration, if it chooses to do so." She adds: "I plan to introduce legislation in January that would close Guantanamo, make the Army Field Manual the single standard for interrogations, prohibit contractors from being used to carry out interrogations and provide the International Committee of the Red Cross with access to detainees."

It's unclear why there seems to be an expectation that the Obama administration might want to "talk back" Democratic Senators from their insistence that the CIA comply with the Army Field Manual, given that Obama himself repeatedly embraced that position. In any event, actions -- i.e., legislation and Executive Orders -- will speak much louder than words and promises. At the very least, this process today has been a constructive one, as it's important that they know that these issues are a very high priority for a lot of people and their actions are being closely scrutinized.

-- Glenn Greenwald

[TwilightGardener]

1. I expected better of Wyden, but really...is there any Democrat in the Senate less principled than

Feinstein?

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Well, since he's in the House, Feinstein's title is safe.

[annabanana]

4. That said, I don't think Obama will "walk this back".

I really don't

[ProSense]

5. According to ThinkProgress, the NYT took Feinstein's quote out of context

New York Times cuts out crucial sentence from Feinstein quote on torture.