Is Al Haig in Charge?

The Senate uncovered today one of the real problems in Iraq: uncertain chains of command. I cannot help but remember Rumsfeld's coy line last Friday that he had made the chart of the chain of command but "forgot" to bring it. It is more reasonable to suggest that chains of command were deliberately confused in Iraq to allow military intelligence operatives (and private mercenaries) to get around the normal authorities and use the "stress and duress" (read: torture) tactics to extract information from prisoners.

Some, like Senator Imhofe (R-Oklahoma), believe that the problem is "the do-gooders swarming all over the prisons looking for abuses." So, for the right wing, the Red Cross is the problem. Once we get our meds straightened out, the facts point to one conclusion. Since 9/11, this administration has proceeded under the Goldwater principle that extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Well, it is a vice. It is also illegal, immoral, and unconstitutional. Ye shall know a tree by its fruits. And the fruits are soon to be on video.

Trust the government, they say. Don't ask questions, don't think about the dead soldiers and civilians, and if you have to, shut your eyes. We'll keep you safe. Except, of course, that we are in more danger than ever.