Torturing the Torturers

President Obama has suggested that while he doesn't want to prosecute the CIA agents who tortured al-Qaeda prisoners to get information on terrorist plots, he would be open to prosecutions of those who wrote or endorsed the torture policies. Former Vice President Dick Cheney, likely aware of the fact that he could be prosecuted, spoke out against the recent release of the torture memos, insisting that these practices were necessary to prevent another attack in the aftermath of 9/11. Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich found the time to bash Obama for shaking hands with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Fine. How about that cordial meeting former and future Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had with Saddam Hussein in 1983 on behalf of the Reagan administration regarding U.S. support for Iraq in its war with Iran, which ended in a handshake?

The prosecution of just the higher-ups for advocating the torture of enemy combatants makes sense, though. It was just reported that torture was endorsed by the Bush administration as early as the spring of 2002 to get information on a Saddam Hussein-al Qaeda connection that never existed.