Mixed Messages

As the trial of Saddam Hussein begins, the New York Times is reporting the "news" that more murderers in the global American torture system are getting away with it.

C.I.A. to Avoid Charges in Most Prisoner Deaths
By DOUGLAS JEHL and TIM GOLDEN

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 - Despite indications of C.I.A. involvement in the deaths of at least four prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, C.I.A. employees now appear likely to escape criminal charges in all but one of those incidents, according to current and former intelligence and law enforcement officials.

Federal prosecutors reviewing cases of possible misconduct by C.I.A. employees have recently notified lawyers that they do not intend to bring criminal charges in several cases involving the handling of terrorism suspects and Iraqi insurgents, the officials said.

I sense the hand of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who with Donald Rumsfeld and John Yoo, forms the U.S. axis of torture.