From Dana Perino‘s press gaggle yesterday morning (for some reason the White House seems to have classified the transcript, but TPMmuckraker has practically the whole damn thing):

PERINO: I will tell you what … the reason that we don’t provide the classified information on interrogation techniques is because we know very well that individuals like al Qaeda … let me finish, Wendell … that individuals like al Qaeda …

QUESTION: I’m granting you that.

PERINO: That … well, then let me say it … that individuals like al Qaeda train to interrogation techniques. And we know that these are people who will make sure that they can resist any type of interrogation technique in order to carry out horrible, murderous deeds, like killing 3,000 Americans in New York City and at the Pentagon.
[...]
QUESTION : Can I go back to … you say we do not provide information … is it because you’re saying you don’t want al Qaeda to train its people to resist your techniques; is that the reason?

PERINO: That’s right.

QUESTION: That’s the reason.

PERINO: You don’t hand over your game book to the opposing team. And we know that these are ruthless individuals who will do anything, and that they’re very patient … that they’ll do anything to try to carry out their attacks. And this President has put in place … all within the foursquare corners of the law … tools in the global war on terror that we need and that the future President … and Presidents, plural … will need in order to protect this country.

QUESTION: Dana, these techniques that have been talked about through intelligence sources and published … whether it’s waterboarding, simulated drowning, subjection to extreme temperatures, loud music, deprived of food or sleep for periods of time … all of that is well known. And if al Qaeda needs a game book, they can read The New York Times and figure out, well, those are a few techniques we might try to train against. So doesn’t that sort of defeat the purpose of saying that it is not something we want to …

PERINO: Just because it’s printed in The New York Times doesn’t mean that we should talk about it publicly. I just reject the notion …
[...]
PERINO: I’m not disputing that there can be legal disagreements between reasonable people who may look at something one way and another person looks at it in another way. I’m not disputing that. What I am saying is that we do not torture, and I disagree with the notion that just because information is leaked or provided to The New York Times or any other news organization that this country should … that this government should then have to spell out any specifics. And I’m not confirming or denying anything that you just listed … all the ones that you just listed.

First, there is the astounding argument that al Qaeda’s people “will make sure that they can resist any type of interrogation technique”, and that’s why it makes sense to subject them to these techniques, so that we can take whatever they choose to spill to us and nip all those evil plans in the bud. (Dana, didn’t mama tell you — you can’t have your cake and eat it too.)

Then, there is that three-year-old-tantrum logic for why administration spokesmen simply cannot confirm or deny the use of a single interrogation technique. It starts with: we can’t let them know what techniques we use, because then they’ll train to resist them. But then somehow it morphs into: so what if some techniques have already been publicly identified from leaked classified documents, and al Qaeda knows them, and is already training against them, we still shouldn’t spell out that we use those techniques. And then the best Perino can do is to keep pretending she doesn’t realize that she no longer has any reason to invoke for the secrecy. The best she can do is to keep pretending that when she insists that this government shouldn’t have to spell out any specifics, all she’s talking about is avoiding an official confirmation that the we-don’t-torture-period administration would find acutely embarrassing. It’s only about covering up, and not about protecting any meaningful information from the terrorists.

At that point she’s got her eyes wide shut, so we can’t see her any more.