The Senate Judiciary committee is currently holding hearings on that proposal from committee chair Pat Leahy to set up a Truth Commission to look into the Bush administration’s war on terror.
We’ll have more to say on this whole subject soon, but for now it’s worth noting that, as you’d expect, Bush allies are fighting hard to stymie Leahy’s idea.
Just now, the committee heard from David Rivkin, a lawyer who served in the Justice Department and the White House under Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush.
Explaining why he opposed Leahy’s proposal, Rivkin declared:
Yes, mistakes were made. Yes, some bad things happened. But compared with the historical baseline of past wars, the conduct of the United States in the past eight years … has been exemplary.
We’re sure that victims of torture under the Bush administration would appreciate Rivkin’s willingness to supply that historical context.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) certainly didn’t. He told Rivkin:
I would suggest, Mr. Rivkin, that until you know, and we all know, what was done under the Bush administration, you not be so quick to throw other generations of Americans under the bus, and assume that they did worse.
Late Update: Here’s the video: