Cheney the torturer, al-Zaidi the tortured

By Michael J.W. Stickings

This doesn't exactly come as a revelation, but the admission, at long last, is welcome nonetheless. According to The Raw Story, Dick Cheney has finally admitted that he supported the use of torture on detainees (specifically waterboarding, which, despite the denials from its supporters, is torture). In other words, he supported what is, essentially, a war crime. But Cheney didn't just support torture, he authorized it:

I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency in effect came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do. And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it,

he said in the interview with ABC News' Jonathan Karl. In other words, he is, essentially, a war criminal.

Yes, even Cheney, at times, can speak the truth.

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Meanwhile, it seems that the world's most famous shoe-thrower, Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi, may have been tortured. So says his brother, though the Iraqi military, as expected, is denying the allegation. (It is being reported that al-Zaidi has been transferred to the U.S. prison at Camp Cropper.)

I agree with Andrew Sullivan that we should "treat the charges with skepticism," but, of course, it's possible, quite possible, given what surely goes on with the Iraqi military.

For more, see here.