It’s kind of the New York Times editorial board to notice.
Ever since Americans learned that American soldiers and intelligence agents were torturing prisoners, there has been a disturbing question: How high up did the decision go to ignore United States law, international treaties, the Geneva Conventions and basic morality?
The answer, we have learned recently, is that — with President Bush’s clear knowledge and support — some of the very highest officials in the land not only approved the abuse of prisoners, but participated in the detailed planning of harsh interrogations and helped to create a legal structure to shield from justice those who followed the orders.
We have long known that the Justice Department tortured the law to give its Orwellian blessing to torturing people, and that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved a list of ways to abuse prisoners. But recent accounts by ABC News and The Associated Press said that all of the president’s top national security advisers at the time participated in creating the interrogation policy…. These officials did not have the time or the foresight to plan for the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq or the tenacity to complete the hunt for Osama bin Laden. But they managed to squeeze in dozens of meetings in the White House Situation Room to organize and give legal cover to prisoner abuse, including brutal methods that civilized nations consider to be torture.
Quite right. ABC News reported nearly two weeks ago that a group of so-called “Principals” — including Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, Tenet, Ashcroft, and Rice — met dozens of times in the White House to “discuss and approve” specific interrogation techniques to be used against suspected terrorists.
Initial reports indicated that Bush was “insulated” from the “series of meetings where CIA interrogation methods, including waterboarding, which simulates drowning, were discussed and ultimately approved.” Bush eventually dispelled the notion that he was out of the loop, though, and said — arguably, bragged — that he endorsed the Principals’ work from the outset.
And as the NYT noted today, the revelations have “reminded us how little Americans know, in fact, about the ways Mr. Bush and his team undermined, subverted and broke the law in the name of saving the American way of life.”
At the risk of sounding ungrateful, what took the New York Times so long?
I realize that there are flag pins, haircuts, and Weather Underground members to talk about, but it’s been 11 days since the initial ABC News report was published. What does it say about our national media when, over the last 11 days, the most detailed coverage of the scandal ran on Comedy Central?
This segment, aired five days ago, was followed by a rather extensive discussion with former OLC head Jack Goldsmith about the revelations.
In contrast, the New York Times editorial on the subject, while good, was the first mention of the recent revelations published in the newspaper. Indeed, the NYT found the subject worthy of an editorial, but never published an actual news article about the story.
Using Nexis and Google News, I went ahead and did another search this morning. How many of the nation’s largest daily newspapers ran stand-alone news articles about the revelations concerning the White House, the “Principals,” and the torture discussions?
Here’s the list:
Washington Post — One (and it was less than 400 words)
New York Times — Zero
Los Angeles Times — Zero
Boston Globe — Zero
Chicago Tribune — Zero
USA Today — Zero
Wall Street Journal — Zero
A few days ago, Digby noted:
Since the national news is obsessed with the Pope’s visit, “bitterness”, “duck blinds” and how and what Democrats drink in diners and bars, they are not inclined to pursue this. Or maybe they just think the top echelon of the Bush administration personally approving specific torture techniques is business as usual by now. It isn’t.
There was a time when many members of the press and many citizens of this country would rend their garments about what they would “tell the children” about sex in the White House. Oddly, they seem to be unconcerned about what to tell the children about torture being devised and approved in the same place. That tells you something about the provincial Village that runs our politics.
Today, the NYT editorial board noticed. It’s a start.