Why Doesn't Cheney Hide Anymore?

From years hiding in his bunker, Dick Cheney is everywhere now. Criticizing this, criticizing that, except for anything that happened while he was in office. He firmly believes that Obama has made us less safe. The only thing protecting us was mistreating people at Guantanamo and other places unknown.

This is the man that wouldn't release a scrap of paper. He tried saying the VP position is not in the Executive branch of the government, that it's in the Legislative branch, in order to shield himself and his papers from any scrutiny. Now he's looking to declassify CIA files. He needs them for his book.

He claims that if this information is released that it will justify the use of the enhanced torture methods. Interesting, since he already has claimed they were justified, and legal. At least in his bunker, not in the real world. We had better hope it was.

He's going to make a big splash, and the media, even those not at Fox, are going to buy into it. As it makes a good story. The problem is that the files will not be able to justify the torture. Cheney wants to show that the enhanced methods produced information, and that information led to the discovery of attacks being planned that were thwarted.

I have no doubt that the enhanced methods produced information. (Though, I wonder. Did these guys, after doing 182 water boardings on the same guy, sit there and look at each other and say, "I think one more time should do it!") The question, and one that the files will not be able to answer, is could this information been obtained legally and morally. We'll never know, as the CIA was directed to use them on the "high value" detainees.

The other question is was the value of the information obtained greater than the losses in prestige we experienced. Was it greater than the new terrorists created through the use of these methods?