Human rights advocates, meanwhile, say the probe should reach to the highest levels of the Bush White House. In a statement, the Center for Constitutional Rights said, “Responsibility for the torture program cannot be laid at the feet of a few low-level operatives… It is the lawyers and the officials who oversaw and approved the [torture] program who must be investigated.” Alexander Abdo of the American Civil Liberties Union said any probe should usher in a new era of accountability.

Alexander Abdo: “Well, the goal is to shed as much transparency as possible upon the abuses of the past eight years. And we’re also hopeful that with that transparency will come a form of accountability. As the President said a few days after taking office, transparency is a part of accountability, and accountability is essential for a functioning democracy.”