THE NEW, IMPROVED INTERROGATORS AT 7:32 A.M. ET:  The Obama administration is changing the way we interrogate people who may want to, say, blow up American buildings, or even cities.  The Washington Post outlines the new, progressive approach:

President Obama has approved the creation of an elite team of interrogators to question key terrorism suspects, part of a broader effort to revamp U.S. policy on detention and interrogation, senior administration officials said Sunday.

Obama signed off late last week on the unit, named the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, or HIG. Made up of experts from several intelligence and law enforcement agencies, the interrogation unit will be housed at the FBI but will be overseen by the National Security Council -- shifting the center of gravity away from the CIA and giving the White House direct oversight.

A word about the timing:

The administration is releasing the new guidelines on the day when what it sees as the worst practices of the Bush administration are being given another public airing. New details of prisoner treatment are expected to be included in a long-awaited CIA inspector general's report being unveiled Monday about the spy agency's interrogation program. The report could set off a fresh debate between members of the current administration and the previous one over whether such tactics are necessary to prod detainees into cooperation and, ultimately, keep the country safe.

And...

a steady drip of stories about past practices has focused attention on the Bush administration. According to recent reports, the CIA hired the private contracting firm Blackwater USA as part of a program to kill top al-Qaeda operatives.

COMMENT:  So, at the very time that we're protesting Scotland's outrageous and cynical release of the Lockerbie bomber, this stuff starts dripping out.  At the very time when we must make critical decisions about increasing troop strength in Afghanistan, "sources" strangely leak new stories that can damage our security services.  At the very time when we're trying to balance our withdrawal from Iraq with safeguards to prevent our achievements there from being lost, we hear word of new "investigations" into past practices.

I don't want to sound paranoid, but have you ever noticed how damaging information about alleged "abuses" comes out when we have a full plate of security questions before us?

There may well have been abuses, and they can be handled through normal channels.  But you just know that any "investigation" will turn political very quickly, which is exactly what many on the left would love to see.  To a certain group in Washington, and they are linked to the Obama wing of the Democratic Party, the time to end Bush-bashing is never.

As to the Obama White House controlling interrogations of high-value detainees, in my worst moments I can imagine the questions:

1.  Are you comfortable?

2.  Has anyone been nasty to you?

3.  How about that flat-screen TV?  Enough contrast?

4.  Did they get you a CD of that new song you were asking about, you know, "We'll Smash the American Imperialist Infidels Until They Accept the Prophet and Put Their Women in Cages"?  We can get you the whole album if you like.

You get the picture.

August 24, 2009