John Gibson tried to kill two FOX-agenda birds with one My Word last Friday 3/16/07, bashing Rosie O'Donnell and covering for the Bush administration. He had to exaggerate and lie, not a problem, to make the non-story BIG.

He lead in with his usual hyperbole, "Rosie O'Donnell made a big deal on "The View" of her contention that one should not believe the confession of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed ... (because) he was tortured, he was confessing inside the torture capital of the world, Guantanamo Bay, and he didn't have a lawyer or a witness present," and concluding "This is what happens when you hate the president and the administration so much that even the world's most evil people look to you like little angels next to George W. Bush."

He continued to misrepresent facts as follows:

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed may have exaggerated his role in some of his 31 confessions, but evidence other than his word indicates he did in fact do most of what he said he did. When he said he did 9/11 "from A to Z," he's right. He did. When he said his blessed right hand cut the head of Danny Pearl, he's not kidding. He really did.

It's true he was waterboarded for about two-and-a-half seconds. Interrogators said he gave up the quickest of all the detainees and sang like a little chirpy bird.(1) But here's the kicker: The confession was witnessed by Senators Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan.

Now Levin is no Bush fan. He's certainly no fan of the Iraq war. But you have not heard a peep out of him about anything being wrong with the KSM confession. Not a word.(2) He and Graham walked in, sat down and watched as KSM was brought in before military judges and made his confession. Who in their right mind would think that Carl Levin would sit by silently if someone were tortured in front of his very eyes in order to get a confession?

Face it. In this episode of the confession of the worst crimes against this country there is only one right side and one wrong side. And Rosie and her friends(3)(5) who pooh-pooh this confession(4) are on the wrong side. The real problem is they are so committed to being wrong.

(1)
CIA's Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described
Sources Say Agency's Tactics Lead to Questionable Confessions, Sometimes to Death
By Brian Ross and Richard Esposito

"Enhanced interrogations have been authorized for about a dozen high value al Qaeda targets -- Khalid Sheik Mohammed among them. According to the sources, all of these have confessed , none of them has died , and all of them remain incarcerated. " (ABCNEWS)

"According to the sources, CIA officers who subjected themselves to the water boarding technique lasted an average of 14 seconds before caving in. They said al Qaeda's toughest prisoner, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, won the admiration of interrogators when he was able to last between two and two-and-a-half minutes before begging to confess."

(2) Senators pay heed to prisoner abuse case

By Anne Flaherty, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 17, 12:50 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Two senators who watched Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confess to planning the Sept. 11 attacks and other plots said Friday that his allegations of mistreatment by U.S. captors should be taken seriously. "To do otherwise would reflect poorly on our nation," Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a joint statement.

(3) Officials: Mohammed exaggerated claims

By Katherine Shrader, Associated Press Writer Thu Mar 15, 6:29 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's claims that he was responsible for dozens of successful, foiled and imagined attacks in the past 15 years relies on a loose definition of the word "responsible." Officials say the 9/11 mastermind was key to some plots but a bit player in others.

The 31 on his list range from the stunningly vicious suicide hijackings of Sept. 11, 2001, to others that current and former government officials say were more talk than concrete plans, such as a plot to kill Jimmy Carter and other former U.S. presidents.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, noting Mohammed's activities are likely to be the subject of an upcoming military tribunal."

(4) O'Reilly says defense of KSM in open court would just be attack on Bush

Former Federal Prosecutor John Flannery says because of how rules are set up, it is impossible for defendants to get a fair trial.

(5) Matt Lauer: Can Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's 'tortured' testimony be trusted?
David Edwards and Ron Brynaert Published: Thursday March 15, 2007

On Thursday, NBC's Today Show explored whether the confessions of alleged 9/11 "mastermind" Khalid Sheikh Mohammed can be trusted, since he claimed to have been tortured after being detained.

"Let's talk about the issue of torture," NBC's Matt Lauer said. "He says in his statement that he didn't make this statement under duress or pressure, but he does also say that he was tortured by the CIA after his capture."

Last September, CIA sources told ABC News that the harshest technique they were authorized to use on "high-value detainees, such as the 9/11 attacks architect Khalid Sheikh Mohamed...was called 'water boarding,' in which a prisoner's face was covered with cellophane, and water is poured over it (pictured above) -- meant to trigger an unbearable gag reflex."

There is a lot of skepticism about the truthfullness of confessions obtained through "enhanced interrogation techniques". Khalid's degree of guilt will always be under a cloud of uncertainty because of these tactics of the Bush administration. Reasonable people can explore and discuss the pros and cons of the issue, while apologists and neocons will never allow any doubt about their leader to pollute their devotion.