No determination that waterboarding legal

The headlines tell us that the Justice Department has determined that waterboarding is illegal under current law, but the actual meat of the article reads as follows:

"The set of interrogation methods authorized for current use is narrower than before, and it does not today include waterboarding," Steven G. Bradbury, acting head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, says in remarks prepared for his appearance Thursday before the House Judiciary Constitution subcommittee.

"There has been no determination by the Justice Department that the use of waterboarding, under any circumstances, would be lawful under current law," he said.

Somehow I think that saying there has been "no determination that it's legal" is not quite the same as saying there had been a determination that it's illegal. This is a slippery use of language that typifies the Bush administration's persistent desire to muddy the waters.