So much for the “bottom up” theory of torture

When the first reports about the use of torture and worse came out it was dismissed by the Bush administration as just the work of a few rotten apples. Once that story became untenable, an alternate defence was brought out. Supposedly the use of torture, sorry, “enhanced interrogation techniques had not been approved by the top, but had been invented by agents in the field desperate to get information from high level Al Quida and Taliban members. As far as I know this defence is still being maintained, despit the mountain of evidence to the contrary.

but now ABC news has revealed what should be the final nail in the coffin of that defence: Bush’s top advisors met regularly to discuss torture:

In dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House, the most senior Bush administration officials discussed and approved specific details of how high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency, sources tell ABC News.

The so-called Principals who participated in the meetings also approved the use of “combined” interrogation techniques — using different techniques during interrogations, instead of using one method at a time — on terrorist suspects who proved difficult to break, sources said.

Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects — whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding.

The high-level discussions about these “enhanced interrogation techniques” were so detailed, these sources said, some of the interrogation sessions were almost choreographed — down to the number of times CIA agents could use a specific tactic.

The advisers were members of the National Security Council’s Principals Committee, a select group of senior officials who met frequently to advise President Bush on issues of national security policy.

At the time, the Principals Committee included Vice President Cheney, former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

As the national security adviser, Rice chaired the meetings, which took place in the White House Situation Room and were typically attended by most of the principals or their deputies.