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What a week to feel good about the Bush administration! President Bush reassures his fellow Americans that “we do not torture” because our latest secret attorney general’s opinions define torturing conduct as not being torture. On the same day, Secretary of State Condolezza Rice assures the country that the State Department plans tighter control over the rampaging private killers of Blackwater USA who are operating in Iraq.The State Department's new regulations for Blackwater, the New York Times reports, were prepared by Patrick F. Kennedy, the department director of management policy. According to the Times “Mr. Kennedy is the leader of a team Ms. Rice appointed to look at the way Blackwater security contractors operate in Iraq.
“Mr. Kennedy had originally selected Blackwater for top American civilian officials in Baghdad, when he served as chief of staff to L. Paul Bremer, the administrator of the United States occupation authority in 2003 and 2004. . .
“That mission grew into a $1.2 billion multiyear security contract with the State Department for the company,” the Times reports.
So sleep well. The fox is guarding the henhouse.
