Do as I say, not as I do

CIA directory Michael Hayden testifies before Congress and states that 3 detainess were subjected to waterboarding. "He said he opposed limiting the CIA to using interrogation techniques permitted in the U.S. Army Field Manual, which bans waterboarding. CIA interrogators are better trained, and it works with a narrower range of suspects in its interrogations."

From my reading on this the US has objected to waterboarding of it's citizens by other countries and has prosecuted individuals when it can that have used this technique on the grounds that it is torture and that it is illegal.

I assume from the Director's comments that we can assume that it is now OK for American citizens to be subjected to waterboarding and that the US will not object because we do it ourselves. Or will we complain that our unfortunate citizens were tortured by "untrained" personnel but it's not torture when the CIA does it because our "interrogators" are better trained.

The hypocrisy of the current administration is the primary reason our standing in the world is in tatters. Democracy for all as long as it's on our terms allowing the US to ignore freely elected Hamas leaders; Waterboarding by the US only due to our better trained CIA torturers; Nuclear power for the US and its allies while denying the same capabilities to governments we oppose (not necessarily our enemies); Preemptive actions against shadow enemies but if the same was exercised against us we would denounce the action; Warrantless wiretaps even though a special court exists to handle these requests and the wiretap can be placed immediately with court action deferred; Holding citizens with no filed charges and no access to family or legal counsel; Secret meetings with energy businesses to set energy policy that benefits business at the expense of the citizenry; and the list goes on and on.

We deserve our current standing in the world.