We know that someone named Helen is saved from tremendous embarrassment by the fact that the White House briefing transcript does not identify the reporters who pose the questions:
Q Was the Mohammed on the front pages subjected to any torture in the secret prisons?
MR. SNOW: We don't -- again, the policy of this government is we do not engage in torture.
Q And so you can guarantee that he was not tortured in all the years of secret --
MR. SNOW: I'm telling you the policy is that we don't do torture, and furthermore, that there are -- very specific guidelines have been laid down in terms of the questioning of people who, in fact, have been in U.S. custody.
Q But after it was all revealed. How do we know -- I mean, this is -- why would you send them to secret prisons in the first place?
MR. SNOW: Well, I'm not going to -- Helen, we have been through long conversations about that. There was a big debate on Capitol Hill about this. We're not going to relitigate it.
Q So you're saying he was not --
MR. SNOW: Yes.
Yes. What possible reason could there be for keeping the location of some high-level captured terrorists secret, other than in order to torture them?
Is there a better demonstration of the ignorance of the press covering the war on terror than a question such as this one? Does it take a genius to figure out that a given location immediately becomes a target if information like this becomes known?
Need you ask?
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