Gee, for a nation that doesn't torture, this shouldn't be happening:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The CIA director on Tuesday publicly named for the first time the three suspected al Qaeda detainees who were subjected to the harsh interrogation technique of waterboarding.

"It was used on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. It was used on Abu Zubayda, and it was used on [Abd al-Rahim] al-Nashiri," CIA Director Michael Hayden told a Senate hearing.

[...snip...]

Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, who also testified at the hearing, said waterboarding remains a technique in the CIA's arsenal, according to The Associated Press. He said it would require the president's consent and legal approval from the attorney general, the AP reported.

Via Federal News Radio (hat-tip to JRichards for the heads-up):

January 11, 2008 - 6:33am -- By BEN NUCKOLS
Associated Press Writer

BALTIMORE (AP) - The revelation that the Army threw out the conviction of the only officer court-martialed in the Abu Ghraib scandal renewed outrage from human rights advocates who complained that not enough military and civilian leaders were held accountable for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

Those critics found an unlikely ally in the officer himself, Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan, whose conviction on a minor charge of disobeying an order was dismissed this week, leaving him with only an administrative reprimand.

Jordan told The Associated Press on Thursday he believes many officers and enlisted soldiers did not face adequate scrutiny in the investigation that led to convictions against 11 soldiers, none with a rank higher than staff sergeant.

He said the probe was "not complete" and that a link between abusive interrogations at Abu Ghraib and in military prisons at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in Afghanistan was not adequately established.

Under the logic of the Bush League, failure and incompetence gets rewarded -- people fail upward, and spectacularly so, until they have nowhere to go but out -- to roam free among the public.

The scandal over the CIA torture tapes continues to spin. Over on DailyKos, several articles with good insights, particularly this one by gchaucer. Over here, clammyc's commentary and several by Jeff Huber lead the way, and emptywheel over at TheNextHurrah has some excellent stuff.

Here's a little more fuel for the fire -- an interview between an apparently defensive Bush and Matt Lauer.

Note how well Bush prevaricates, dissembles and obfuscates.

Just a little more after the jump.