In August I noted how regularly the Bush administration has relied on formulations like “No one could have anticipated…” and “No one expected…” to explain its missteps. They’re at it again, this time with regard to the dustup between Bush’s demand for the right to torture and the senators in his own party who think that unilaterally carving out exceptions to the Geneva Conventions might be a bad idea.
Here’s what some anonymous administration official told the New York Times’ David Sanger about the controversy:
“I don’t think anyone anticipated the avalanche of opinion that would be assembled on the other side of what seemed like a pretty abstruse legal issue,” one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to discuss the issue with a reporter.
No one anticipated it, nope. Abstruse legal issue. John McCain’s position on the matter? Big surprise. Disagreement over abandoning a central tenet of the 150-year-old foundational agreement on wartime ethics? Who’da thunk?
[tags]torture, bush administration, john mccain[/tags]
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