Late rendition . . .

There is no question now that the United States tortured. Some would say we tortured prisoners of war, others would say terrorist suspects. But we tortured, not by mistake or the over-zealousness of young soldiers, but by official sanction from very high in the command chain.

Now we are faced with what to do about it. Torture as committed was illegal, both under the laws of our country, and international treaties and agreements that the United States has entered into over many, many years.

The all news all the time networks are filling their hours this week with opinions about what should be done. Who is responsible? Who should be prosecuted, if anyone? If there is no prosecution, does that failure constitute a violation of international law?

And those are important questions.

But the truth is, we the people have known, or should have suspected, that we have been torturing. It has been in the news for years. The New York Times published articles about the use of torture by our government as early as 2003. In May, 2005, the Times published an article detailing our agreement with human rights villain Uzbekistan to provide a place for rendition, that is to say, a place for the u. S. to transport and detain prisoners for the express purpose of using interrogation techniques not accepted in most of the civilized world. The article was picked up and quoted in media all over the country. That was in May, 2005. Four years ago.

I did nothing. And I'm pretty sure I saw you standing right there with me.

That's the problem with living in a democratic republic. We all have responsibility for what our government does. Scary, isn't it? But it is true. We just forgot.

So, while it is important to investigate this ugly chapter in our story to find out who is responsible and how it happened so that it cannot be repeated, there is something else that is important that seems even uglier.

It sounds like the folks who were just following orders will not be prosecuted.

But not necessarily the ones who gave the orders. Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bush?

Don't look now, but that is ultimately you and I.

We have met the torturers, and they are us.

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