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A record of hypocrisy

Slate has compiled a chronological record of the Bush administration's statements on prisoner abuse in Iraq. Going back to last fall, the President and his subordinates have been harping on how the US has put an end to "rape rooms and torture chambers" in everything from press briefings to a speech on tax relief. What is perhaps most shocking is that they've continued to pound this point even after the evidence of the atrocities at Abu Ghraib have come to light. In the 10 days after Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba submitted his final report on March 9, Bush, Rumsfeld and Rice each publically declared the disappearance of rape rooms and torture chambers. The day after the 60 Minutes II expose aired, Bush and his press secretary again insisted that we had rid Iraq of rape rooms and torture chambers. Even in his interviews yesterday with Arabic television, Bush again emphasized Saddam's use of torture to justify the war in Iraq. (See also Fred Kaplan's piece on the President's failure to actually apologize in those interviews.)

Can we sink any lower?

Update (10:19 PM): Yes, we can.