Torture on Trial, Already

The running debate in Washington on whether to prosecute either CIA interrogators or the policymakers who authorized the harsh techniques they used is unlikely to yield any new information or legal actions any time soon. Lawmakers and Obama administration officials are essentially pondering questions already largely answered on the issue. A series of books, news articles, de-classified documents and public disclosures by Bush administration officials have revealed what interrogation methods were used, who authorized them and who is answerable legally. Continuing to wonder aloud about what to do now may prove cathartic to many in Washington, but it’s unlikely to produce any meaningful accountability for what many have long considered the commission of war crimes by the Bush administration. What some seem to have forgotten amid the latest headlines in the U.S. torture saga is that the issue is headed to court in a variety of venues at present anyway. A host of legal proceedings related to torture, detention and surveillance were already moving forward even before President Obama took office. The slow, quiet machinations of those are likely to produce some measure of accountability before Congress or the White House acts.