We betrayed the rule of law for 'fool's gold'

Today's column by Leonard Pitts Jr is great. Here's an excerpt:

According to a March 29 report in The Washington Post, U.S. officials were convinced they had themselves a real, live al Qaeda leader in [Abu] Zubayda, who was captured in Pakistan in 2002. Under pressure from the Bush White House to get something out of him, they resorted to waterboarding and other coercive measures.

Out came a flood of names and plots and details. Security was tightened, millions were spent chasing it all down, and all of it was for nothing. Every investigation launched as a result of Abu Zubayda's revelations fizzled. It turned out that, far from being an al Qaeda leader, he was a mid-level associate. The Post says most of the information he gave that proved in any way useful came during ordinary interrogation. The things he said while being tortured by the nation that does not torture were apparently just to make the pain stop.

The Post report is but the latest in a litany of revelations all suggesting the same thing: that in the wake of Sept. 11, a frightened nation betrayed one of its core principles -- the rule of law -- for the fool's gold of security.