I Can’t Say Whether the Rack is Torture; I Haven’t Been Briefed

Clarification, please:

The president said it was not right for senators to press Mr. Mukasey about interrogation techniques on which he has not been briefed. When Mr. Bush was asked whether he considered waterboarding illegal, he said he would not discuss specific methods used in the interrogation of suspected terrorists. “It doesn’t make any sense to tell the enemy whether we use those techniques or not,” he said. “And the techniques we use by highly trained professionals are within the law,” the president said. “That’s what’s important for America to know.”

So I have to wonder, has Mukasey been briefed of the use of the rack? Thumbscrews? The iron maiden? Hot iron pokers up the ass? If not, then would it be inappropriate to ask him whether he thought such methods were torture? And is it the President’s position that asking whether or not we stick hot iron pokers up the ass of terrorist suspects is inappropriate, because it would “tell the enemy whether we use those techniques or not”?