Hole in the Clouds


Progress report: Update on the Center for Torture Accountability archives

Oct 15, 2009

In its first ten months, the Center for Torture Accountability has adentified some 35 Bush-era officials and contractors for inclusion in CTA archives. Nineteen of these individuals--more than half--have been researched and written up thus far. They are as follows:

Name                                Torture role

David Addington            Cheney's lawyer
Diane Beaver                "We'll need documentation...."
Cofer Black                  "The gloves come off."
George W. Bush            The enabler
Jay Bybee                     Signed off on it
Richard Cheney            The man behind the curtain
Douglas Feith               "I was a player"
Timothy Flanigan           Lawyer for the Decider
Alberto Gonzales           The rubber stamp
William Haynes             The other enabler
Geoffrey Miller              Brought Guantanamo to Iraq
James Mitchell              Designed and implemented torture methods
James Pavitt                  Pushed the CIA to torture
Patrick Philbin              Pushed the constitutional envelope to justify war without rules
John Rizzo                    Lawyer for the CIA's torturers
Donald Rumsfeld          Set the tone at the Pentagon
George Tenet                Lord of the Black Sites
Mary Walker                Sidelined review of detainee treatment       
John Yoo                      Legal mind of the testicle-crushers

In the next phase of the archives project, another 16 individuals will be included:

Porter Goss
Michael Chertoff
Jonathan Fredman
Michael Dunlavey
Daniel Dell'Orto
Lewis Libby
Condoleezza Rice
Stephen Cambone
John Ashcroft
Scott Muller
David Becker
Robert Delahunt
Steven Bradbury
Alice Fisher
Bruce Jessen
"spiky-haired woman" (CIA associate)

The American Civil Liberties Union project on torture accountability also reviews many of these same characters and incorporates the text of significant torture documents into its website.

For additional biographical detail and timelines, see History Commons.

Update: The Center for Torture Accountability has now launched the Bradley Manning Torture Project.