Two New Torture Memos-- Surprises, No Surprises

This mornings NYT revelations about two previously undisclosed Department of Justice torture memos authorizing "combinations" of techniques involving waterboarding, hypothermia, and head-slaps have lit up the net in ways I haven't seen since the Military Commissions Act was passed last year. Am I truly surprised about the revelations? Not really-- we knew already that the CIA black site/rendition/torture program was officially sanctioned and still in effect due to Bush's July 2007 Executive Order affirming all said programs. The CIA follows guidance from the Department of Justice. Unless memos existed authorizing these programs by finding them not to violate torture law, none could continue.
That said, I was still horrified to hear that the OLC authorized "combinations" of enhanced torture techniques-- a small but chilling detail not previously disclosed. As this crucial Physicians for Human Rights report makes clear, even by themselves each "enhanced" CIA method clearly constitutes torture. When used in combination, the effects are multiplied exponentially.
As usual, Scott Horton's analysis rises above the rest. Horton is the voice of conscience on the issue of torture, surpassing that of even the always lucid Andrew Sullivan. Although they've been cited elsewhere-- namely by Soldz and Valtin-- Horton's comments must be cited here:

As the Times piece tells us, [Office of Legal Counsel chief Steven G.] Bradbury was hired on a probationary basis and was given a mission—reassure the CIA that it can torture all it likes. So Mr. Bradbury crafted the third in the Bush Justice Department Torture Memos, saying just that. And after Congress enacted more legislation making clear that torture was not permitted, and its authors took to the floor announcing that the CIA’s specific menu of techniques was unlawful, Mr. Bradbury crafted Torture Memo IV saying that the law didn’t mean what its authors said it meant. In fact, it turns out, the law didn’t mean anything at all. Of course, in the minds of all the loyal Bushies only the President is the source of Law, so none of them would have any difficulty tracking Mr. Bradbury’s thinking to its natural conclusions.

The Bush Administration has opined that torture is not torture. So what tricks remain? To say that murder is not murder? That rape is not rape? That there isn’t any extortion or kidnapping, either? Ah, but I neglected the hearings down the hall concerning the contractors in Iraq. It turns out those opinions have been given as well.

Under Alberto Gonzales, the transformation is now complete. The nation’s Justice Department, once renowned as a guardian of the nation’s freedoms and liberties as well as a swift enforcer of justice, now emerges in a new guise. It is a criminal syndicate committed to empowering the most horrendous crimes. It is a Justice Department in the fully Orwellian sense.

But considering the long track record of political prosecutions, evidence of which mounts with each passing day, and the strenuous efforts to suppress voters and corrupt the basis of democracy, why should any of this come as a surprise? It is indeed all of one piece.