McCain, Mukasey Duel in Op-Eds Over Intel Tactics

Who’s right in the competing narratives on whether harsh interrogations led to the discovery and death of Osama bin Laden probably never will be settled. However, when The Washington Post compares the competing Op-Eds written by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the newspaper concluded that Mukasey strains to make his case.

Sen. John McCain

Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

Squaring off the Op-Eds, which appeared in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, respectively, in a fact check, the Post acknowledges that “the truth may not be known for years” and there is not “enough information to make a definitive judgment.”

However, the Post reported that “it appears that Mukasey is straining to make a connection between the killing of bin Laden and the harsh interrogation techniques that appears, at best, tangential. Otherwise, he would not have had to resort to verbal sleight of hand to make his case.”
The Post added that “at the same time, while the enhanced techniques may not have provided the Rosetta stone to bin Laden’s whereabouts, Mukasey may be right when he asserts that valuable leads in the broader war against al-Qaeda were derived through these techniques.”