Did Dick Cheney Just Confess to a War Crime on National TV?

By ZP Heller, Brave New Films

Not only has the Bush administration committed war crimes in plain sight, but now Dick Cheney is freely confessing it on national television.  In an interview with ABC, Cheney admitted he directly authorized the CIA to use highly controversial enhanced interrogation tactics like waterboarding, as well as the torture of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad.

Cheney showed no regret.  In fact, he spoke with such insouciance it was almost as though the administration hadn’t repeatedly denied authorizing use of these tactics over the years.  (Of course, Cheney still denies waterboarding constitutes torture.)  What’s more, he actually praised the Guantánamo Bay prison facility.  "Guantánamo has been very well run," he said, claiming it should remain open indefinitely. 

Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU with whom Brave New Foundation created the Close Gitmo campaign, had this to say:

"The current administration’s torture policies and fundamentally flawed military commissions make a mockery of the Constitution and violate America’s commitment to human rights. Contrary to the vice president’s opinion, these detainees should be prosecuted in U.S. military or civilian courts that are fully equipped to handle complex national security cases."

Cheney’s confession is part of a broader effort from the intelligence community to justify the Bush administration’s use of torture in an attempt to keep Gitmo open, keep the unconstitutional military commissions going, and keep torture on the table.  It’s as though they think that if they say it freely and openly enough, then we will just have to overlook the fact that they’re confessing to war crimes!

We must urge President-elect Obama to close Gitmo and shut down these commissions.  Then, we must play Cheney’s interview on every political blog out there in an effort to command the attention of Congress and the DOJ.  Cheney and his hubris have finally gone too far.  Here’s hoping a war crimes tribunal one day replays this interview at his trial.

ZP Heller is the editorial director of Brave New Films. He has written for The American Prospect, AlterNet, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Huffington Post, covering everything from politics to pop culture.

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