Reading Jane Mayer's Dark Side

I am a little over half way through Jane Mayer's The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals. Right now, I'm reading about the abuse and torture perpetrated by American military and CIA in Iraq, specifically Abu Graib, and reading another account of the torture is again an angering experience.

Abu Graib is just one example of the torture the Bush administration authorized. The torture occurred at CIA black sites, in extraordinary rendition destinations like Egypt and Syria, at US bases in Afghanistan, at Guantanamo Bay, at a naval brig in the US, and at various camps and prisons in Iraq.

I've read other books and news articles about the torture and seen documentaries covering the issue, but The Dark Side pretty much covers it all. There is such a mountain of evidence of the torture that it cannot be denied that it happened nor that it was not authorized at the highest levels of our government. Why there is any debate about whether Bush administration officials (including Bush himself) should be investigated and many of them prosecuted is maddening.

The writing is on the wall. This issue will never go away until there is justice, and if there is not justice, then this chapter will be a permanent stain in America's history. It's already a stain, but let's at least get some of it out.