Topic: Accuracy in Media
An April 23 Accuracy in Media column by Jim Kohri repeats the assertion, first forwarded by CNSNews.com, that "A source within the Central Intelligence Agency says that a May 30, 2005 U.S. Department of Justice report corroborates the fact that the use of aggressive interrogation techniques on al Qaeda's Khalid Sheik Mohammed 'encouraged' him to reveal useful intelligence that allowed US law enforcement to derail an attack on Los Angeles."
In fact, as we've detailed, the Bush administration has claimed that the Los Angeles plot was foiled a year before Mohammed was captured.
Kouri goes on to defend the Branch Davidians, who were merely a peaceful people (albeit led by a "charismatic, sociopath") who "desired only one thing from society: to be left alone" (albeit while building "an arsenal within their compound"), but were victimized by Janet Reno "and her minions in the Justice Department" on "phony" charges of child abuse and making automatic weapons (which Kouri doesn't support). Kouri claims that they were treated not unlike KSM: "The extreme measures used against American citizens (including sleep deprivation, blasting loud music and noise, etc.) went unchallenged by the news media of the day."
Kouri huffs that Reno and President Clinton faced "absolutely no condemnation" of their actions in the siege (utterly false) and adds, "Apparently, in America, if you're a liberal you can escape punishment for even the most unconscionable behavior."
Nowhere does Kouri mention the fact that the Branch Davidians murdered four federal agents, a not-unimportant factor in creating the siege. Apparently, Kouri doesn't find that unconscionable.
