Debunking Right-Wing Memes Regarding the Death of Osama bin Laden - Act 1

Since yesterday, the most ubiquitous right-wing meme on the web regarding the death of Osama bin Laden has been the one were, in a nutshell, “Bush deserves the credit. The information came from a Guantanamo detainee who was tortured. This is Bush’s achievement.” (Please also note how unashamed they are to claim the “credit” for the use of torture.) Think Progress:

Bush loyalists have been “irked” over the past 24 hours that they are not getting credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden, arguing that their torture program helped bring about intelligence that led to the mission. Karl Rove said “the tools that President Bush put into place –- GITMO, rendition, enhanced interrogation” led to the successful operation. Similarly, former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said the mission “rested heavily on some of those controversial policies” from the Bush era.

In large part, this came up due to a report by The New York Times yesterday that the information came from a Guantanamo detainee: