One Small Step Towards Accountability for Torture

Yesterday's L.A. Times reported Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate CIA abuses committed during the interrogation of detainees in U.S. custody. For those of us who have been calling for accountability for torture, this is good first step, and we eagerly await further details about the scope of the investigation.

The news, however, was met with some skepticism on the blogs. Digby at Salon and McJoan at DailyKos questioned the efficacy of an investigation that may only target CIA agents who went beyond the scope of the OLC memos.

Writing about our Tortured Logic video, Andy Worthington writes:

Remember, if Eric Holder fails to act, it will send a clear message that the President, the Vice President and their closest advisors can break the law with impunity — and shape America into a nation that tortures — so long as they're voted out of office at the end.

Christy Hardin Smith at Firedoglake:

The torture memos produced by the OLC were never meant to be seen and parsed by the public.

These memos used incredibly tortured logic to justify acts which, in prior wars, the United States prosecuted as war crimes.

…The words you are hearing were written by and for the US government. As guidance for governmental agencies acting in all of our names.

Jeff Kaye writes: "The effect of watching the video is remarkable, as we hear out loud the monstrous legal justifications for the unjustifiable."

If you haven't already, check out the video, send it to your friends, and most importantly, please send it to Attorney General Holder. Let him know that the time has come for a top-to-bottom, comprehensive investigation into Bush administration torture policies, and that you support the appointment of an independent prosecutor with the authority to follow evidence of torture wherever it leads.