THE DUCK IN THE ROOM

The T-word -- "torture" -- was studiously avoided by all in more than three hours of the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Treatment of Prisoners in Iraq. Except, that is, for Sen. Edward Kennedy, who forthrightly spoke of "torture and abuse."

The closest Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld came to using the T-word was when he said compensation might be made to Iraqi prisoners who suffered "grievous and brutal abuse and cruelty."

By any other name that's "torture." The old rule applies: If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, looks like a duck, etc.

We also heard Rummy say, "I take full responsibility" for the "terrible activities" that took place at Abu Ghraib. We heard him say, "I feel terrible about what happened to those Iraqi detainees." We heard him offer his "deepest apology to Iraqis who were mistreated."

Here's how the others being questioned in the hearing skirted the T-word:

+ Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called what happened "prisoner abuse," which was "appalling, unconscionable and unacceptable."
+ Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command in Iraq, called it "mistreatment."
+ Lee Brownlee, Acting Secretary of the Army, called it "detainee abuse" that was "tragic and disappointing."
+ Gen. Peter Schoomaker, Army Chief of Staff, called it the "inexcusable behavior of a few."

To be fair, there was a questioner's reference to "atrocities" toward the end of the hearing. And the word "homicide" did come up in a factual description of the "abuses."