...in an interview with the Austrian newspaper Der Standard, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Professor Manfred Nowak, explained that Obama’s grant of immunity is likely a violation of international law. As a party to the UN Convention Against Torture, the U.S. is obligated to investigate and prosecute U.S. citizens that are believed to have engaged in torture:

And then there's the moral code that's been broken. The one where being "humane" means something.

I feel that whoever sits in the Oval Office as President has been given too much power. If it had been limited, even slightly, this could never have happened. I don't think it should have been up to Bush to sign a piece of paper making torture legal.

The Office of Legal Counsel is supposed to stand as a roadblock to unchecked powers of the President; this is what makes Bybee so controversial. Obama is trying to appoint a hard core watchdog, but the Republicans are squirming because she spoke so forcefully against bush/bybee, etal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8-FrzhHT_w

I suspect there is also a role of the US Senate that has been avoided. The Senate should have had its head on straight and road-blocked Bush at every turn. But it dragged its feet and let us down.

... and then it became a habit. Lost backbone does not regenerate without major intervention. Is there even 5 senators with a backbone? Those that have one are marginalised.

ratcatcher2:

Did you say 5?
Politicians are made of rubber. Totally flexible, much more so if they gave something to gain, chect out the Westminster mob.