Cursor's Media Patrol - 12/05/05

"The U.S. does not permit, tolerate or condone torture," said Secretary of State Rice, before departing for Europe where she 'faces growing anger,' following a Washington Post article on an "erroneous rendition" and Der Speigel's report on CIA planes passing through German airspace. Earlier: 'The Hunt for Hercules N8183J.'

The head of Project Censored says that military autopsy reports released by the ACLU, "provide indisputable proof that detainees are being tortured to death while in US military custody. Yet the US corporate media are covering it with the seriousness of a garage sale for the local Baptist Church."

A former prime minister met with a rude reception on a campaign swing in Najaf, although "perhaps no one has more enemies than Sunni Arab politicians" in Iraq.

As the Washington Post reports on "the difficulty that the Democratic foreign-policy elite has in coming together around a crisp alternative" to Bush's Iraq policy, Alexander Cockburn discloses "the Republicans' only source of comfort" after Rep. Murtha's stance signals "mutiny in the U.S. senior officer corps."

While the FBI is said to have "reopened an inquiry" into the forged Niger documents, the Senate Intelligence Committee's Phase II investigation into pre-war intelligence, is reportedly "still facing opposition from administration officials and has seen little action from the committee's chairman."

Rich also cites Jonathan Landay's article, "Lack of Hard Evidence of Iraqi Weapons Worries Top U.S. Officials," published on Sept. 6, 2002. Two days later, when Bush administration officials blanketed the airwaves, the article wasn't mentioned on "Meet the Press" or on CNN's "Late Edition."

"Things really aren't that good" in a 'Joyless Economy,' argues Paul Krugman, while Paul Craig Roberts unpacks the "glitter" in a jobs report, revealing 'an economy driven by debt.'