During the Scooter Libby trial, it became very clear that Dick Cheney was behind the outing of Valerie Plame, who was running an undercover operation. Thus, Cheney had provided aid-and-comfort to enemies of the United States. At that time the only remedy for a sitting vice president was for Congress to impeach, and Congressional Democrats determined that they had a choice, not an obligation to act. I disagreed.
The Democrats' inaction reaped what it sowed. Scooter did not take the stand, did not call Cheney to testify as had been promised, and had his sentence commuted without serving a day in jail. The sand that the special prosecutor said was thrown in his face by Scooter Libby was not wiped clean. And, most importantly, the rule of law upon which this country is based was eviscerated.
Dick Cheney just admitted on television that he was involved in authorizing waterboarding, an interrogation technique determined to be torture by war crimes trials after World War II, and thus prohibited by Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, a treaty that, however "quaint" as Alberto Gonzales called it, was the law of the land.
I do not know what Cheney had in mind by making that admission. It may be that he already knows he is going to be pardoned. Or, it may be that he has not convinced Bush that he should be pardoned, realizes that once he is out of office it is likely to be revealed anyhow, and so he decided to surface it so that he could convince Bush to pardon him.
After that admission, however, the Obama Justice Department has no choice but to prosecute Cheney for war crimes. If it does not, it will surrender on January 21st its ability to regain America's moral authority in the world. It will, moreover, serve as a recruiting tool for terrorists, as we have now learned occurred with the Abu Gharib scandals
Bush must also be investigated for his role and knowledge of the activity. Paradoxically, Bush's position will be compromised if he pardons Cheney who, immune from prosecution because of the pardon, will have to testify and can be prosecuted if he is found to have committed perjury.
I agree with the president-elect that reconciliation is a key goal. But, reconciliation will be superficial and fragile if it is not accompanied by the truth and, at least in egregious cases, accountability.
We have already learned from interrogators that the Abu Ghraib torture episode stimulated al-Qaeda recruitment and resulted in more deaths to American and Iraqis. Had Bush removed Rumsfeld immediately -- and, actually, whether Rumsfeld were guilty or not, but as a symbol of how serious we took this -- some of that appeal would have been quashed. His failure to do so was just one more piece of evidence that Bush cared much less about protecting our troops and citizens than he did about protecting his pals.
Cheney's defense, of course, will be the legal memoranda written by his cadre of so-called attorneys, justifying their actions. Rogue regimes always take over the legal system as one of their first acts. It enables them to govern with the imprimatur of legitimacy, and provides cover for quashing pockets of resistance as non-obedience to the "law". Because the legal system is invested with such power and prominence, its members have a special duty not to use their skills for illegal purposes. Thus, Cheney's coterie of attorneys such as Addington, Yoo, Gonzales and others that participated in crafting those bogus memoranda must also be prosecuted.
Letting Cheney go unprosecuted is not a singular event. With his admission, Dick Cheney will not be able to travel outside the United States without fearing arrest as a war criminal. Every time Cheney travels abroad, the Obama administration will be called upon to protect Cheney and thus be seen as protecting a war criminal. And, count on Dick Cheney to throw that dilemma up in Obama's face every chance he can.
For the chance of restoring our moral authority in the world, a far more potent and precious resource than our military, and for the sake of rededicating ourselves to the rule of law at home, President Obama does not have the choice not to prosecute Dick Cheney and his lawyers.
Cheney's act were done, without our consent, in your name and mine. If he is not held accountable, then the stain on our good names remains as well.
This is not partisanship. It is patriotism.