Here is the short version.

Jane Mayer Building a Case That Could Be Used Against Cheney

The New Yorker's Jane Mayer has an extremely important piece in the 13 August edition of the magazine titled "The Black Sites: A Rare Look Inside the CIA's Secret Interrogation Program." I knew from other sources that Mayer was working on a major article that would expose a closely held International Committee of the Red Cross report finding that American interrogators were using torture techniques -- but did not know that her piece would be so comprehensive. This article -- which is very long -- should be read in full by anyone who wants to understand the details of the "darkness at noon" like intrigue that we have created. And it doesn't even produce results that are dependable. Much of this story is about Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's confession that he beheaded Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Pearl's wife and many others close to the case don't have confidence in the confession or the CIA interrogators involved and their techniques for extraction of information from detainees. The two parts of the essay that are of particular interest to me are first, the section about the ICRC report on US torture habits and second on the view that many have that despite all of the drama about Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and the various "black sites," it turns out in one of the highest profile cases involving Mohammed, there is enormous doubt about the information he coughed up.

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Here is the long version. Read it and weep.

The Black Sites
A rare look inside the C.I.A.’s secret interrogation program.
by Jane Mayer

In March, Mariane Pearl, the widow of the murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, received a phone call from Alberto Gonzales, the Attorney General. At the time, Gonzales’s role in the controversial dismissal of eight United States Attorneys had just been exposed, and the story was becoming a scandal in Washington. Gonzales informed Pearl that the Justice Department was about to announce some good news: a terrorist in U.S. custody—Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the Al Qaeda leader who was the primary architect of the September 11th attacks—had confessed to killing her husband. (Pearl was abducted and beheaded five and a half years ago in Pakistan, by unidentified Islamic militants.) The Administration planned to release a transcript in which Mohammed boasted, “I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew Daniel Pearl in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head.” Pearl was taken aback. In 2003, she had received a call from Condoleezza Rice, who was then President Bush’s national-security adviser, informing her of the same news. But Rice’s revelation had been secret. Gonzales’s announcement seemed like a publicity stunt. Pearl asked him if he had proof that Mohammed’s confession was truthful; Gonzales claimed to have corroborating evidence but wouldn’t share it. “It’s not enough for officials to call me and say they believe it,” Pearl said. “You need evidence.” (Gonzales did not respond to requests for comment.)

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