A harsh Monday New York Times editorial called on the president to “bring to justice” those responsible for the torture practices outlined in the Senate torture report, including former Vice President Dick Cheney and John Yoo.
The editorial lists some of the more nauseating practices carried on by the CIA, including rectal feedings and stringing up detainees by their wrists:
“These are, simply, crimes,” the Times concluded:
The editorial calls for a thorough investigation to discover those culpable, although they don’t seem to be holding their breath: “As hard as it is to imagine Mr. Obama having the political courage to order a new investigation, it is harder to imagine a criminal probe of the actions of a former president.” They go on to name Cheney and others as the bare minimum of those who deserve prosecution:
The board then chides Republicans for “braying” about Obama’s executive overreach, while demanding no accountability from the executive in this matter—except for John McCain, who has been one of the most passionate objectors to torture.
The ACLU and Human Rights Watch sent a letter to the Justice Department on the same day as the editorial, asking Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the program and the role of the Bush administration in enabling it.
“Even a cursory read of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s executive summary leaves no doubt that President Obama’s preference to ‘look forward as opposed to looking backwards’ is at odds with the basic principle that nobody, no matter how senior, should be above the rule of law,” the ACLU wrote on their website.
