A terrorist is someone with no formal political power who commits acts to terrorize. A person with political power who does the same is a tyrant.

We get to decide who the terrorists are, and since we are the 'deciders,' we can't be terrorists. It's sort of like how the Greeks called all the non-Greeks barbarians. We have decided that we are the arbiters of justice in the world, so we are the one true legitimate power. We have our allies, but beyond that, the world is a scary place full of people who are plotting and scheming and finding ways to defy our authority.

This attitude has been present in American thought for a long time; an example would be the idea of Manifest Destiny. It's comes from fundy ideas that America is the shining city on the hill and all sorts of other hogwash. That meme has been one of the most dangerous and destructive forces in world history.

to Mr Cheney. Lying about the effectiveness is a non sequitur; it doesn't matter an iota if "it worked" or if "it didn't work".

Largely through his personal leadership and insistence the US committed international criminal acts.

No matter how much he lies and obfuscates, his own admissions make him guilty.

Somewhere, perhaps even in the US, there is a person who has the same spirit as Eli Wiesel, a person who will not rest until every war criminal involved is brought to international justice.

And we should hope for that alternative to the one in which persons who will not rest until their sense of justice and retribution are satisfied by acts of violence against American citizens.