War Criminals

From ABC News, a Hague-worthy line-up:

Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects -- whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding.

The high-level discussions about these "enhanced interrogation techniques" were so detailed, these sources said, some of the interrogation sessions were almost choreographed -- down to the number of times CIA agents could use a specific tactic.

The advisers were members of the National Security Council's Principals Committee, a select group of senior officials who met frequently to advise President Bush on issues of national security policy.

At the time, the Principals Committee included Vice President Cheney, former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

How long before they are all in the docket? Perhaps the early quitters get off easy or turn state's evidence -- Powell, Ashcroft, that wily Tenet. But this is all inner circle shit, Bush getting signals from Cheney and Rice but remaining insulated (isolated, as he seemed so much at the time) as Cheney led the plot, Rumsfeld his closest symbiote making torture Defense Department policy.

Why are the Lynndie England's getting punished for executing the fatcats' orders?

Ted Kennedy gets it right:

"Who would have thought that in the United States of America in the 21st century, the top officials of the executive branch would routinely gather in the White House to approve torture?" Kennedy said in a statement. "Long after President Bush has left office, our country will continue to pay the price for his administration's renegade repudiation of the rule of law and fundamental human rights."

The American Civil Liberties Union called on Congress to investigate.

"With each new revelation, it is beginning to look like the torture operation was managed and directed out of the White House," ACLU legislative director Caroline Fredrickson said. "This is what we suspected all along."

The former intelligence official described Cheney and the top national security officials as deeply immersed in developing the CIA's interrogation program during months of discussions over which methods should be used and when.

So all that strong-arming, stonewalling and obfuscating from Bush has been, right from the start, just about protecting his gang members. He's the front man, Bush family members always are, and his job is to be the stonewall.

Cheney and Rumsfeld learned well from their years with Nixon in the White House. You avoid disaster by having your firewall we out of the loop, as often as possible.

Just a dumbfuck with a hard ass.

America, the first eight years of this 21st Century.

Please don't let it continue for another four.