Update, May 3: Unfortunately, any "debate" over Osama bin Laden's death and the value of torture has been clusterfucked by reporting by the AP and other MSM that give the appearance Khalid Sheikh Mohammed revealed the name of Osama bin Laden's courier under torture.
Rather, as Andrew Sullivan and Marcy Wheeler report, that's totally false.
Whether the reportorial problem lies more with the AP et al, or with confusing/bad early info from Team Obama, I'm not sure. But, we have this "meme" now out there which is ultimately irrelevant. — End update
So, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was a lead, if not the only one, to the lead that led to the Osama bin Laden assault that lead to his death. (And, per the NYT, which just says "Guantanamo detainees," there may have been several leads.)
The McClatchy story is right — this will reignite the debate over torture. (That said, when did McClatchy go "soft" and stop using that word?)
First, KSM could have given out inaccurate blather here just like he did with other things.
Second, at the time he named this courier, that person may not have been so close to bin Laden as he became in later years.
Third, the "right" result doesn't make a wrong action right anyway.
The larger civil liberties fallout of the hunt for bin Laden? Here is a good laundry list.
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