“The CIA has operated a secret prison system where more than 100 terror suspects have been locked up since Sept. 11.

The so-called ‘black sites’ — which were so covert that only a handful of government officials even knew about them until today — operated over the past four years in eight different countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and several Eastern European states, according to a story first reported today in the Washington Post.

…”The one overriding reason for such a facility is to torture those in detention,” said Mark Garlasco of Human Rights Watch. “So that they are away from any prying eyes from the public and from the media.”

…A former intelligence official said one reason this story was likely leaked to the press is because some CIA officers don’t believe the program is sustainable and could harm the United States’ reputation.” (ABC News via Noah)

Tim Grieve (War Room) writes: “At a press conference in April 2004, a reporter asked George W. Bush to identify the biggest mistake he’d made since 9/11 and to describe the lessons he’d learned from it. The president couldn’t come up with anything. ‘I wish you would have given me this written question ahead of time, so I could plan for it,’ he said.

Well, here you go.” (Salon)