A History of Bush's Interrogation Program

The recently released White House legal memorandums documenting the Bush administration's interrogation program has created quite a stir in the media and in Washington. A New York Times article published May 3rd depicts the major public and private events that led to its eventual demise. The article cites the report published by John L. Helgerson, the CIA's inspector general, on May 7, 2004 as one of the program's first major stumbling blocks. In the report, Helgerson raised questions about the legality and overall effectiveness of the interrogation methods and the program as a whole. Even more devastating, Congress' bill passed the following year banning "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" effectively crippling the program implemented by the CIA and the Bush administration. With the "enhanced" interrogation techniques all but finished, the debate within the White House shifted to the question of what to do with the CIA's remaining prisoners. Eventually, a Rice-led side defeated the Cheney-led side, and the prisoners were moved to Guantanomo Bay. However, in July 2007 Cheney and his supporters scored another victory when a Bush executive order reinstituted many of the previously abolished techniques and "preserved the secret jails" whose legality had been hotly debated. Within a month of Obama's presidency, however, the aforementioned secret jails and Bush's interrogration program were terminated.

Above all, this article highlights the remarkable divisions and disagreement that existed within the Bush White House. The picture I have is of two constantly feuding sides with separate, often selfish agendas, and George W. Bush stuck in the middle, hopelessly trying to appease both parties. Although this view is obviously over-simplistic, time after time I've read articles and stories that suggest something embarrasingly similar to this dynamic.