AG nominee Eric Holder said Waterboarding is Torture. So did DCIA nominee Leon Panetta. But the nominee for Director of National Intelligence (who oversees Panetta's CIA and 15 other intelligence agencies) refused to say it, according to the Wall Street Journal (h/t Gary Farber). And the reason he refuses is clearly because he wants to protect torturers. 

President Barack Obama's nominee as director of national intelligence declined to say Thursday whether waterboarding is torture, marking a fissure with attorney general nominee Eric Holder, who said that it is.

"I'm hesitating to set a standard here which will put in jeopardy some of the dedicated intelligence officers who checked to see that what they were doing was legal and then did what they were told to do," said Dennis C. Blair, nominated for the intelligence post, at his Senate confirmation hearing. He did declare, however, that "there will be no waterboarding on my watch. There will be no torture on my watch."

How can the person with the title of "Director of National Intelligence" not have the intelligence to know that the Nuremberg Defense for war crimes - "just following orders" - was thoroughly rejected? It doesn't matter if some corrupt lawyer said it was legal - waterboarding is self-evidently torture and everyone at the CIA knew or should have known so.

Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a member of the intelligence panel that held the hearing, said Mr. Blair's answer was "troubling" in comparison to Mr. Holder's clear statement last week...

In a statement of solidarity with intelligence officers, Mr. Blair also said he didn't intend to "reopen the cases" of CIA officers who took part in an interrogation program that had been authorized by senior officials.

Pursuant to our treaty obligations under the Convention Against Torture, which was signed by Ronald Reagan, Blair must help the Attorney General prosecute torturers. He cannot refuse to "reopen the cases." If he does, he is complicit in a coverup of war crimes.

Mr. Blair was more vague when asked whether he would discipline senior officials who were involved in the CIA interrogation program or other activities that have come under criticism. "I intend to establish procedures and move forward, but there are some things in the past that have to be looked at," he said, making reference to an inspector general report that found fault with CIA's role in the shooting down of an airplane that was carrying Americans.

Our obligations under the Convention Against Torture would not be met through administrative "discipline" - we must prosecute them under the law.