Manny says:
The head of the C.I.A., Michael Hayden, announced the agency destroyed tapes of what he called a "harsh interrogation" and what you and I would call torture. The reason? To protect agency operatives from legal consequences.
This is a cover-up of epic proportions. On the Senate floor, Senator Kennedy warned his colleagues, "We haven't seen anything like this since the 18-and-a-half-minute gap in the tapes of Richard Nixon."
So far the attorney general has responded by launching a "preliminary inquiry." But the Justice Department and the C.I.A. cannot be trusted to investigate themselves — these are the very same agencies that authorized and carried out the government's torture program. Only an independent prosecutor can get at the truth.
The ACLU is planning to deliver a petition to Attorney General Mukasey and members of Congress demanding an independent prosecutor to investigate crimes that may have been committed by the CIA personnel or other top administration officials.