The revelation that European countries like Poland and Romania cooperated with the U.S. in establishing the secret prisons touched off a scandal in the Council of Europe after a 2007 inquiry.

If it weren’t for whistleblowers and journalists’ relentless pursuit of the Bush administration, that never happened.

Further, it’s instructive to consider how it really didn’t happen all that much in reality. I don’t know that a single site outside theatre has been ID’d in any meaningful way. I don’t know of a single host govt copping to a facility. I don’t know of any disclosure really leading to anything concerning a facility. In fact, Bush saying “14 guys previously held somewhere we’re not gonna tell you about are now not there” is probably the fullest disclosure we’ve seen. The distance from this story never breaking to where it currently is, is not a long way.

So, that’s where you got under Bush and how he was treated by investigative journalists of integrity. Are we confident this “let’s just put it behind us” vibe hasn’t set the tone for this to be the end of the story, whether the subject itself end ? A hell of a lot of effort to get almost nothing. Is anyone confident of that same level of effort continuing ?

It’s not just tearing down these walls. if word starts coming from Washington that no more settlement walls will go up in the West Bank, then the doubters can pause.