Holder Ponders Limited Torture Probe

"I thought that it was absolutely the right thing to do," Cheney said of what he called the "enhanced interrogation" of the detainees. "I thought the [administration's] legal opinions that were rendered [endorsing the harsh treatment] were sound. I think the techniques were reasonable in terms of what they [the CIA interrogators] were asking to be able to do. And I think it produced the desired result.

"Was it torture? I don't believe it was torture," Cheney said. "The CIA handled itself, I think, very appropriately. They came to us in the administration, talked to me, talked to others in the administration, about what they felt they needed to do in order to obtain the intelligence that we believe these people were in possession of."

Regarding the earlier Abu Ghraib case, retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who was commander of US forces in Iraq at the time, confirmed in the paperback version of his book, "Wiser in Battle," that the prisoner-abuse investigations were constrained for political reasons.

"A meaningful and unlimited investigation, which the Bush administration adamantly opposed, would result in an unmitigated disaster," Sanchez wrote. "It would open up Pandora's box and let out a world of evil."

Sanchez added, "It's now clear the Bush administration did not tell the truth about the use of torture at Guantanamo Bay, or in Afghanistan and Iraq.... In the aftermath of Abu Ghraib, administration officials worked diligently to deflect responsibility away from them and down to military leadership on the ground....

"It is also apparent that the White House and the Department of Defense consistently attempted to minimize any further exposure of their actions and, specifically, to prevent a serious investigation into their executive-decision making process."

Sanchez wrote that "to prevent this [disgrace] from ever happening again" and "to restore America's moral authority," the Obama administration and Congress "must conduct more comprehensive investigations across all involved agencies, learn from the findings, and implement permanent changes."

Whether Attorney General Holder is up to that task remains to be seen.