In an editorial backing the Bush administration’s position on coercive interrogation today, the Wall Street Journal suggests that this position is necessary to prevent an attack in the so-called “ticking bomb” scenario:

Now the four GOP Senators and most Democrats are working to put CIA interrogators under similarly restrictive rules. If they get their way, they will make it impossible for any government agency to squeeze the next al Qaeda terrorist who may have information about a ticking bomb in an American city.

The phrasing “the next al Qaeda terrorist who may have information about a ticking bomb in an American city” falsely implies previous al Qaeda terrorists were “squeezed” about “a ticking bomb in an American city,” and that opponents of the Bush administration would prevent that from happening again. However, life isn’t like the TV show “24” — to my knowledge, the “ticking bomb” scenario has not happened in this country with al Qaeda.