Misha Lerner, Fourth-Grader, Presses Condoleezza Rice on Waterboarding During Appearance at Synagogue, School Wanted Child to Omit the Word "Torture"

Condoleezza Rice thought she was safe by appearing at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue to give an evening lecture. This was her first appearance in Washington D.C. since leaving office. Just days after telling students at Stanford University that waterboarding was legal "by definition if it was authorized by the president," she was pressed on the matter by a fourth grader, Misha Lerner, who asked her: What did Rice think about the things President Obama's administration was saying about the methods the Bush administration had used to get information from detainees? This was probably a shock to her, since the previous questions were softball -- What was it like growing up in segregated Birmingham, Ala.? What skill did she want to be best known for? I bet she thought was was on easy street.

I will give Ms. Rice credit for being graceful under stress. I know she must have been swearing under her breath. She said that she was reluctant to criticize President Obama, a notion that former VP Dick Cheney ought to look into. Yeah, Condi is not slouch. Herein lies the basis for her argument for signing off on the use of waterboarding -- President Bush gave them permission to use that technique. I can see who will be holding the bag -- President Bush and Dick Cheney.

"Let me just say that President Bush was very clear that he wanted to do everything he could to protect the country. After September 11, we wanted to protect the country," she said. "But he was also very clear that we would do nothing, nothing, that was against the law or against our obligations internationally. So the president was only willing to authorize policies that were legal in order to protect the country." She added: "I hope you understand that it was a very difficult time. We were all so terrified of another attack on the country. September 11 was the worst day of my life in government, watching 3,000 Americans die. . . . Even under those most difficult circumstances, the president was not prepared to do something illegal, and I hope people understand that we were trying to protect the country." Source: Washington Post

The school deliberately forced the student to tone down his question and take out the word "torture." Isn't that censoring? According to his mother, Inna Lerner, said the question her son had initially come up with was even tougher: "If you would work for Obama's administration, would you push for torture?""They wanted him to soften it and take out the word 'torture.' But the essence of it was the same," Lerner said. I am glad he asked Condi Rice such a tough question because she needs to be in the hot seat for illegal tactics the Bush Administration engaged in.

Rice touched off a firestorm last week when she told students at Stanford a bare-faced lie that "we did not torture anyone."

"The president instructed us that nothing we would do would be outside of our obligations, legal obligations, under the Convention Against Torture," Rice said at Stanford, before adding: "And so, by definition, if it was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Convention Against Torture." Source: Washington Post

Wow, isn't this comment a throw-back to former President Richard M. Nixon's statement, which gained notoriety -- "When the president does it, that means it is not illegal." Condi Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, President Bush, and all the others who were privy to Bush's inner circle that led to the decision to torture, should be investigated for war crimes.