Given this pattern of criminality, a probe into Cheney's alleged directive to the CIA to withhold information from Congress might appear comparatively trivial. But just as Al Capone was convicted and imprisoned for tax evasion rather than his killings, examining Cheney for deceiving Congress could open the dungeon door to other dark secrets. For example, it was Cheney after 9/11 who backed an alliance with Uzbekistan, even if it tied the U.S. to President Islam Karimov's infamous torture regime. What took place there?
Historical note: if the CIA took criminal orders from the White House, it wouldn't be the first time. Author Weiner recounts a January, 1975, meeting at which President Ford discouraged New York Times editors from writing about the CIA's past. Ford said, "the reputation of every president since Harry Truman could be ruined if the deepest secrets spilled. "Like what?' an editor asked. "Like assassinations!' Ford said."
And if he did give the CIA crooked advice, "he broke the law and violated his oath of office," The Nation magazine says of Cheney in its August 3rd issue. "News reports outlined how Cheney had ordered the agency to keep the House and Senate intelligence committees in the dark," the weekly said, adding that Attorney General Eric Holder has "signaled a new openness to investigating the Bush regime's interrogation practices."
"Such an inquiry would focus on abuses other than the covert CIA program, but the constant appears to be Cheney, whose office has repeatedly been linked to the previous administration's torture fetish," The Nation said, adding, "It is clear that inquiries should proceed on all fronts, not from a desire to "get Cheney' but from recognition that accountability is necessary if we are to restore the system of checks and balances."And the only way to prevent any repetition "is to hold him fully to account. Anything less would lend dangerous legitimacy to Cheney's imperial project," The Nation said. Americans need to know the truth about Cheney---and act on it.
(Sherwood Ross is a Miami-based reporter who writes on political and military subjects. To comment on this article or support his research contact him at sherwoodr1@yahoo.com).
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