It can't be said in simple words.(on the right)(Bush administration)

THE charge that the Bush administration is something of a closed society keeps coming up, for instance in the matter of Vice President Cheney and Lewis Libby. Why doesn't Mr. Cheney simply release his version of what went on in the matter of disclosing the employment of Mrs. Wilson? The question is complicated by Cheney's anxiety not to say anything that might get in the way of the defense story when it is finally articulated. But whatever the reservations, we have here an Administration Silence that annoys, vexes, and even outrages.

The reaction to this Silence came to a boil recently at a White House briefing at which Scott McClellan, the press chief, took on the matter of torture.

It's relevant here, by way of perspective, to remind ourselves that the Geneva protocols to which the United States subscribed back in 1949 were something of a casualty of 9/11. The president said then that terrorists do not fall neatly into the category of enemy combatants, for whom the Geneva codes were written.

But it is not specified in language available to the public just what the singularities are. President Bush has said that the Geneva principles continue to govern U.S. behavior in dealing with detainees. Sen. Jay Rockefeller has asked for a congressional investigation, and Sen. John McCain wants a new law that would specifically and unequivocally govern the conduct of our military ... Our military? Does that include the CIA?

Such questions are being asked, and press chief McClellan attempted to preempt a parsing of them by saying, "I think the president's made our position very clear. We do not condone torture, nor would he ever authorize the use of torture. We have an obligation to abide by our laws and our treaty obligations, and that's what we do. That is our policy."

A questioner wanted to know how the president would react to the proposed legislation. "Does the administration want the CIA exempted from that law?"

McClellan: "We've stated our views on that amendment. The House passed a different version of the Department of Defense spending legislation. The Senate included some language on that. We'll be working with congressional leaders as ...