Dancing around torture

Parsing the interview with Bush's lawyers, TMV's Kathy Kattenburg pulls her hair out:

1. Waterboarding was not torture then. It may be torture now, but it wasn’t torture then.
2. It was almost torture. But it wasn’t torture.
3. It was harsh, almost torture, but not torture, and it saved lives. Absolutely, it saved lives. No question. And Alberto Gonzales has the right security clearance, so you know when he says it saved lives, it saved lives. You can’t say it didn’t. You didn’t see the classified reports. You are not going to see the classified reports. He did see the classified reports. And he is here to tell you: Those interrogations, which were harsh, but not torture, at least not back then, saved lives.
4. Legally, waterboarding is torture. But when Alberto Gonzales served in the administration, the administration decided that under certain conditions and circumstances, waterboarding would be legal. And fortunately, their use of waterboarding met those conditions and circumstances.
5. The lawyers did not get it wrong. It was different then. It’s different now. They passed a law.
6. Errr, I’m sorry, that’s wrong. I just double-checked. The law didn’t change.
7. It was a close call; it was almost torture, but it wasn’t torture.