Bush OK'd Torture Meetings

By contrast, the American Civil Liberties Union and a smattering of newspaper editorial boards around the country are greatly disturbed and are calling for an urgent congressional investigation.

Dan Eggen wrote on page A3 of Saturday's Washington Post: "President Bush said Friday that he was aware his top national security advisers had discussed the details of harsh interrogation tactics to be used on detainees.

"Bush also said in an interview with ABC News that he approved of the meetings, which were held as the CIA began to prepare for a secret interrogation program that included waterboarding, or simulated drowning, and other coercive techniques."

But Eggen indicates this is old news: "The Washington Post first reported in January 2005 that proposed CIA interrogation techniques were discussed at several White House meetings. . . .

"The Post reported that the attendees at one or more of these sessions included then-presidential counsel Alberto R. Gonzales, then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, then-Defense Department general counsel William J. Haynes II, then-National Security Council legal adviser John B. Bellinger III, CIA counsel John A. Rizzo, and David S. Addington, then-counsel to Cheney."

Back on Jan. 5, 2005, in the course of a broader story about the attorney-general nomination of then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, R. Jeffrey Smith and Eggen did indeed describe Gonzales chairing White House meetings "which included detailed descriptions of interrogation techniques such as 'waterboarding'."

But the article did not place Bush's top echelon of aides at those meetings -- including Cheney, then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and then-attorney general John Ashcroft -- as ABC News did. At the White House, a meeting of the "principals" carries much greater weight than meetings of lower-level aides.

And the earlier article certainly didn't contain any admission by Bush that he had given the principals the go-ahead.

The ACLU's View

From an ACLU press release on Saturday: "The American Civil Liberties Union is calling on Congress to demand an independent prosecutor to investigate possible violations by the Bush administration of laws including the War Crimes Act, the federal Anti-Torture Act, and federal assault laws.

"'No one in the executive branch of government can be trusted to fairly investigate or prosecute any crimes since the head of every relevant department, along with the president and vice president, either knew or participated in the planning and approval of illegal acts,' said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. 'Congress cannot look the other way; it must demand an independent investigation and independent prosecutor.'

"Fredrickson added, 'Congress is duty-bound by the Constitution not only to hold the president, vice president, and all civil officers to account, but it must also send a message to future presidents that it will use its constitutional powers to prevent illegal, and immoral conduct.'

Opinion Watch

The Kansas City Star editorial board writes: "It's shameful that the United States has become, under the Bush administration, a country that tortures prisoners. This is a dark stain on our country's honor and ideals.