UPDATE: Who said it? John McCain did!

Who said it?

UPDATE:  It was the 43rd-a-half president of the United States, Sen. John McCain -- former POW and torture victim:

"So far, I know of no information that was obtained, that would have been useful, by 'advanced interrogation.' In fact, according to published reports … some of the key people who knew about this courrier denied it [under torture] ... I stand on the side of the United States and by the Geneva conventions, of which we are signatories, which we were in violation of by waterboarding."

You know, go ahead and Google it -- I don't care. I'll give the surprising (sort of) answer later on.

While you wait for that, since we haven't been talking much about torture this week, here are two excellent pieces on the topic.

Legal expert Dahlia Lithwick on Slate:

There is just one question about America and torture: whether we should do it. The answer to that, after hundreds of years of legal thinking and moral progress, not just in America but around the world, is no. It's bad for those asked to torture, and it's bad for our soldiers who will be tortured by others. A bunch of Bush officials secretly changed that answer for a time, based on misapprehensions of its efficacy, but for serious interrogators, ethical thinkers, and lawyers, the answer has always been no.

Here's more good stuff from Tanya Somanader at American Prospect.

Apololgies for the light posting, but I've been working on a really good (in my humble opinion) Pennsylvania-based story for next week. The only torture involved may be reading the finished product :-)

Have a great weekend.