Iranian scientist and former would-be defector Shahram Amiri has returned to Iran, and spun a story about being subjected to the "harshest mental and physical torture" in the United States, aided (of course, since this statement was for consumption in Iran and the Middle East) by Israeli agents and the threat of deportation to some grim fate in Israel.

The entire story sounds patently bogus, in that (1) we let him go relatively quickly and voluntarily, and (2) he's clearly someone we wanted information from, and (3) we're being pretty open about it. I don't believe him — the facts and circumstances suggest that it's a publicity stunt by Iran, with his willing participation.

But it got me thinking. Wouldn't it be nice if we could respond to his statement by saying, "Unlike Iran, the United States of America does not torture. And we don't ship people off to cooperative foreign countries to be tortured, nor do we threaten to do so."

But I guess we can still make a case-by-case defense.

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