Looks can be deceiving

When I see a picture in the newspaper of Christopher Jordan Dorner, I think of someone who one could swap lots of funny stories with.  It's hard to believe that he is a former LAPD officer who has gone on a rampage, killing at least three people and wounding others.

The tortuous justification of torture

One story making the rounds is that the waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) led to the prevention of an attack on Los Angeles. Therefore torture works and saves American lives.

The problem is that the time sequence is all wrong. The plot was foiled in February 2002, KSM was not captured until March 2003. See "The 'torture prevented a west coast 9/11' lie", Jed Lewison, Daily Kos, 2009-04-23.

Now, if you think this interpretation of the time sequence is a "liberal plot" to discredit the Bush Administration, see President George W. Bush give the same sequence.

See also "The Religious Dimensions of the Torture Debate", The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 2009-04-29.