Powell on Enhanced Interrogation

Colin Powell told Bob Schieffer he has "no idea" if the enhanced interrogation techniques used during the Bush administration were effective.

"I have no idea," he said on "Face the Nation" Sunday. "I hear that they were. I hear that they weren't. You see people from the FBI who come out and say, 'We got all of that information before any of that was done.' I cannot answer that question. And the problem is, I don't know what I don't know."

He said that he was aware that enhanced methods of interrogation were being considered in the aftermath of 9/11 but said he was "not privy" to the memos of legal documents that were being written.

"I think it was unfortunate but we had a system that kept that in a very compartmented manner. And so I was apart that these enhanced interrogation techniques were being considered. And they were judged not to be torture at the time," he said.

He argued that when "facing the possibility of a 9/11, you had to give some -- some flexibility to the CIA," noting that these methods were stopped under the Bush administration.

"It's easy now in the cold light of day to look back and say, you shouldn't have done any of that," Powell said.

"But as Mr. Cheney has said very, very often, as has President Bush and all of us, if we had another attack like 9/11, say on 9/11 a year later, nobody would have forgiven us for not doing everything we could." - CBS News Story

Mr. Powell is 100% correct. The Bush Administration was in a Damned if you do, Damned if you don't situation. If they used everything at their disposal to stop another attack and one didn't come, well then you have what you hear today. Persecution of the Administration, by a sitting President none the less.

However, if there had been another attack and they hadn't done everything in their power to stop it we would most likely be hearing the same story with a different twist. Persecution of the Administration.

Obama can stand atop his soap box and preach away, but should another 9/11 such attack happen under his watch! You will undoubtedly hear the persecution of his Administration for not doing whatever is necessary is possible to stop it.