Whitehouse Ups Ante on Torture

As evidence mounts that the Bush Administration pursued torture for political ends - to elicit evidence of a tie between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda in a bid to justify the Iraq War - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is stepping up his already sharp rhetoric on harsh interrogation techniques.

A report in the Daily Beast by former NBC investigative reporter Robert Windrem says that Vice President Dick Cheney suggested waterboarding a former Hussein intelligence official who might have knowledge of Iraq-Al Qaeda ties. 

The report builds on other, similar allegations. And in a pair of television appearances on CNN and MSNBC last night, Whitehouse suggested that Bush Administration officials could face criminal charges if they did, indeed, engage in politically motivated torture.

As the controversy continues to fester, the profile of Rhode Island's junior senator rises ever higher.