"I didn't authorize anything..."

[kentuck]

Condi is running scared. She is afraid that she will be tried in a court of law for torture. That is how she appeared while answering a question for a student at Stanford. She seemed quite defensive and fearful of the torture issue.

There is little doubt that she knew what the 2nd Article in the Conference on Torture says about that?
It does not excuse torture because someone was taking orders from a superior. Surely she knows?

She said, "I didn't authorize anything. I conveyed the authorization of the administration to the agency, that they had policy authorization, subject to the Justice Department's clearance. That's what I did."

She was only following the orders of George W Bush?

[ColbertWatcher]

1. Like all GOPers, she's a coward. n/t

[tekisui]

2. Nobody did nothin.

All just a bunch of torture cogs in the wheel of torture. lock everyone of them up from top to bottom.

[jobycom]

3. Ooo. Stabbing her "husb... President" in the back?

[malaise]

10. It's dog eat dog as of now

:popcorn:

I watched that video - what an arrogant scared woman.
Poor Condi had no idea that her power would disappear like the heel of an overpriced Italian shoe.

Fuck you Condi!! Keep talking - the prosecutor is listening.

[Ilsa]

4. What's that saying? "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." She knows

her Rethuglican "friends" like Rumsferatu and Cheney will happily sacrifice her before having to take any of the blame for the torture.

[eleny]

5. She's been feeling slithery things wrapping themselves around her ankles and tugging her down

[C_U_L8R]

6. Just following orders hmmmm

[Mist]

7. Condi, your pants are on fire:

<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt="Condi_fire"></a>

Why would they ask her to be involved in any way unless they wanted her okaying it too? A chain of people who could lend credence to their "torture's okay" meme was being built, and Rice was part of it.

[soryang]

8. The I didn't know it was torture defense

This is interesting from a legal viewpoint. Some journalist was articulating the bush administration defense quite well the other day. Allegedly, Tenet and others have claimed that they didn't know waterboarding was already definitively determined to be torture in international and US legal precedent. So the ignorance of the law defense might involve scienter. Does it make sense to say you didn't know it was torture to commit a battery on a person with water to make him feel he's drowning (dying). Or that keeping someone awake for eleven days isn't torture? How about 48 hours naked in a stress position at 50 degrees temp? What about when the victim dies?

This is the "mistake" defense. Oh the lawyers said it was okay. But these were OLC lawyers and white house lawyers. The lawyers in the Armed Forces who are the nation's experts on the subject wouldn't approve it. Also, FBI lawyers who saw the procedures were of the opinion that it was illegal. When military lawyers disapproved, the administration cranked out bs memos from lawyers who had no military background and claimed that they didn't know the history of the SERE techniques applied, which originated as techniques used on American POWs in the Korean conflict. It's a labored defense. No it's a tortured defense.

[dflprincess]

9. I know nothing!

[spanone]

11. i saw the video, when she said that particular statement she sure sounded mighty defensive

[saltpoint]

12. When you get deception from Condi Rice you get THE most mealy-mouthed

deception you could ask for.

Good for the student who asked that question.

Bad for the ex-Secretary of State who could not answer it.