Thread: Another Flip-Flop

WASHINGTON - The Obama White House wilted further Thursday in the flap over torturing terrorists, conceding that getting rough may have mined good intelligence.

Amid a political tug-of-war between liberals and conservatives, spokesman Robert Gibbs admitted brutal interrogations of Al Qaeda prisoners worked - sometimes.

"I think people would tell you that there was information that was procured that was helpful and information that was procured that was made up," Gibbs told reporters.

"Nobody could ever likely tell you that any information derived couldn't also have been derived from another means," he added.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has argued that subjecting 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to waterboarding immediately after his 2003 capture thwarted plots against the U.S. But many counterterror operatives dispute the value of his information.

After releasing post-9/11 legal files last week and offering CIA interrogators immunity for carrying out former President George Bush's orders, Obama opened the door this week to prosecuting his predecessor's brain trust.

Democrats want a "truth commission" to probe torture claims, but the White House - whose position on the torture flap has flipped and flopped since the weekend - appeared to side with Republicans who oppose it.

"I think the last few days might well be evidence of why something like [a commission] would likely just become a political back-and-forth," Gibbs said.

Attorney General Eric Holder told lawmakers Thursday that CIA operators won't be prosecuted - but he's looking at whether top Bush lawyers twisted the law in authorizing torture techniques.

"I will not permit the criminalization of policy differences," Holder said. "However. . . if I see evidence of wrongdoing I will pursue it."

jmeek@nydailynews.com

I think Obama realizes the potential of the CIA blackmailing him. They are their officers are the most likely to dig to the bottom of his unwillingness to release his papers.