I'm Afraid to Say, America the Torturers

Two reports have come out reminding us in excruciating well supported detail of what we already should have known:

1. During the Bush administration torture by the U.S. government was widespread.
2. This torture was approved and promoted at the highest levels of government.
3. This torture was in direct contradiction to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits 'cruel and unusual punishment'.
4. This torture generated little if any reliable intelligence.

These reports are

• The Constitution Project's Task Force on Detainee Treatment
• The U.S. Bi-Partisan Leadership Against Torture on the 25th Anniversary of President Ronald Reagan Signing the Convention Against Tortue and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment.

Under the treaty, torture is a crime against humanity. If the home country of a torturer does not prosecute, any country may step in and bring charges. This happened some years ago when Great Brittian arrested ex-Chilean president Pinochet at the request of Spanish authorities for torture committed in the 1970s and 80s. Senior Bush administration officials would do well to stay in the U.S. to avoid a similar fate.

Of course, if America wakes up to the fact that our most basic laws were grievously violated by the highest officers in the land, and that these crimes severely damaged our standing in the world thus aiding our enemies immensely, we just might prosecute ourselves.