Said the Man with No Heart, “I’d Do it Again in a Heartbeat”16x20 Oil on canvas, Sandra Koponen © 2015OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENTDick Cheney, Vice President Jan. 20, 2001 - Jan. 20, 2009Vice President Cheney has been the most vocal and unapologetic supporter of the Bush administration’s torture program from the beginning, and he appears to have had a hand in virtually every aspect of it. He opposed the application of the Geneva Conventions to U.S. detentions and interrogations overseas, a legal sidestep that set the stage for future torture. As a member of the National Security Council Principal Committee, Cheney received detailed briefings on the specific interrogation techniques that the CIA wanted to use on so-called “high value” detainees, and he approved them. Through his legal counsel, David Addington, Cheney also helped shape the legal memos used to justify torture.Cheney sought unsuccessfully to ensure CIA agents would be immunized from legal liability for abusing detainees. However, his effort did lead to the inclusion in the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 of a provision under which officials may claim they did not know particular practices were unlawful, including through “good faith” reliance on legal advice. Cheney continued to defend and maintained his pro-torture positions despite mounting internal and public reports of abuses and deaths of detainees in DOD and CIA custody.**https://www.aclu.org/infographic/infographic-torture-architects

Said the Man with No Heart, “I’d Do it Again in a Heartbeat”

16x20 Oil on canvas, Sandra Koponen © 2015

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

Dick Cheney, Vice President Jan. 20, 2001 - Jan. 20, 2009

Vice President Cheney has been the most vocal and unapologetic supporter of the Bush administration’s torture program from the beginning, and he appears to have had a hand in virtually every aspect of it. He opposed the application of the Geneva Conventions to U.S. detentions and interrogations overseas, a legal sidestep that set the stage for future torture. As a member of the National Security Council Principal Committee, Cheney received detailed briefings on the specific interrogation techniques that the CIA wanted to use on so-called “high value” detainees, and he approved them. Through his legal counsel, David Addington, Cheney also helped shape the legal memos used to justify torture.

Cheney sought unsuccessfully to ensure CIA agents would be immunized from legal liability for abusing detainees. However, his effort did lead to the inclusion in the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 of a provision under which officials may claim they did not know particular practices were unlawful, including through “good faith” reliance on legal advice. Cheney continued to defend and maintained his pro-torture positions despite mounting internal and public reports of abuses and deaths of detainees in DOD and CIA custody.*

*https://www.aclu.org/infographic/infographic-torture-architects