Principals of Torture

[Christopher Valen]

In my April 4th blog entitled War Crimes, I wrote about a recently declassified White House memo, which argued that the Geneva Accords didn’t apply to the President’s actions in wartime. The memo attempted to give the President and other senior White House officials cover for acts of torture they authorized in direct violation of international and constitutional laws.

Yesterday, ABC News reported that President Bush’s most senior advisers met in dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House beginning in 2002 to approve the use of harsh interrogation techniques. At those meetings, the Principals specifically discussed whether detainees would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to waterboarding.

Members of the National Security Council’s Principals Committee included Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, George Tenet, and John Ashcroft. The Principals were asked to sign off on each case of authorized torture by then CIA Director, George Tenet. Only Ashcroft warned of possible consequences for their actions. "History," he said, "will not judge us kindly."

This report should end any lingering doubt that war crimes were approved at the highest level of government. What’s still in doubt is whether Congress will bring these war criminals to justice?