Vice President Confesses to War Crimes

Say what one likes about Vice President Dick Cheney, he doesn't give a fig what anyone else thinks of him. He seems to believe that the opinions of others don't matter and that he is invincible. That is the only interpretation one can make of interview on ABC with Jonathan Karl, the one in which the vice president confesses to being a war criminal.

“War crimes” is a term thrown about far too readily in some corners. Its overuse undermines the seriousness of the charge. During war, during the greatest of man's barbarity to man, there are some things one cannot do. They are beyond the pale of even war. Even before Nuremberg, there were the Andersonville Trials for war crimes during the American Civil War. The concept, while abused frequently, is an old one.

The specific crime to which Mr. Cheney has confessed is condoning and ordering torture of prisoners, specifically the technique known as “waterboarding.” Not to be confused with surfing, waterboarding is drowning a victim close to the point of unconsciousness or death and then stopping. US soldiers were court-martialed for having done this in the Philippines after the Spanish American War of 1898. At the Tokyo War Crimes Trials, waterboarding was the main charge against many Japanese when it came to torturing prisoners.

So, what did Mr. Cheney actually say?

KARL: Did you authorize the tactics that were used against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?

CHENEY: 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.