Sullivan Again

Andrew Sullivan has a lot of interesting things to say today -- but this one in particular is not to be missed.

HAND OVER THE MEMOS: Given what we now know about Abu Ghraib, given the murders and rapes of several inmates in U.S. custody, given the fact that the U.S. now allows for "disappearing" prisoners in order to hide them from the Red Cross, is it not incumbent on the administration to release all memos detailing what this administration regards as permissible "coercive interrogation techniques?" (By the way, isn't that term in and of itself chilling? Its plain meaning is the use of violence or the threat of violence against inmates. When a government resorts to this kind of euphemism, you know something fishy is going on.) We really do need to see two in particular:

[T]he documents include a memo from Mr. Rumsfeld to Gen. James T. Hill, the senior officer of the Southern Command, dated April 2003 and titled, "Coercive interrogation techniques that can be used with approval of the Defense Secretary." Another memo dated Jan. 4, 2004, written by the top legal adviser to Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the senior American commander in Iraq, and sent to military intelligence and police personnel at the Abu Ghraib prison, is titled, "New plan to restrict Red Cross access to Abu Ghraib."

In the first, we can find out what kinds of torture or abuse Rumsfeld has deemed legit. In the second, we can find out how the policy of restricting Red Cross access might have contributed to the horror of Abu Ghraib. If the administration wants to say it has never condoned torture, and that Abu Ghraib was the work of a handful of rogues, these memos could prove their case. So why won't they release them? Hmmm.

He never lets anyone off the hook over there.