Today's news is dominated by a conflict among leading Democrats over a Truth Commission. Speaker Pelosi has supported a Truth Commission since John Conyers proposed it earlier this year. But President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Reid oppose it.

“The president said that given all that’s on the agenda and the pressing issues facing the country, that a backward-looking investigation would not be productive,” said a White House official who attended the session. “The president was very clear ... that he believes it’s important that there’s not a witch hunt.”

"I think the last few days might well be evidence of why something like this would likely just become a political back-and-forth," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

"I believe what we have to do is wait until the intelligence committee finishes its work," Reid told the Las Vegas Sun.

This whole debate is a sideshow and a distraction. Even Glenn Greenwald got sucked into it:

as they have done for years, Democratic leaders continue to lead the way in shielding Bush crimes from scrutiny and stifling public disclosure of what was done.  Obama met yesterday with Congressional leaders and emphatically argued against the establishment of a Truth Commission, insisting that such an inquiry would interfere with his political agenda.

A Truth Commission is a bad idea because it would primarily serve to deflect and delay a criminal investigation, which is what we really need because crimes were committed, just as Greenwald says.

The need for criminal investigations is motivated by one simple, consummately apolitical fact:  serious and brutal crimes were committed at the highest levels of the government, ones that left a trail of many victims.  A country that purports to live under the rule of law has no choice but to treat its most powerful members who commit serious crimes exactly the same as ordinary citizens who do so. 

A Truth Commission would not be a criminal investigation. The last Truth Commission - the 9/11 Commission - was designed specifically not to lay blame or refer charges. Michael Ratner goes further in arguing against a Truth Commission:

The commission process will drag on, statutes of limitation will run and the conclusion of the commission is likely to be: the US should not have tortured, but it was an extraordinary and dangerous moment after 9/11 and the torturers were acting in our best interest to avoid another 9/11. Prosecutions are not recommended.

That's exactly the kind of Washington elite self-protection and non-accountability that Greenwald so eloquently opposes.

So let's forget about a Truth Commission and just focus on prosecution. It could be led by the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, but really should be led by a Special Prosecutor because the DOJ itself was directly involved in the scandal and therefore has a conflict.

That's exactly why we and our allies from the ACLU, FireDogLake, and Moveon delivered over 250,000 petitions to Eric Holder yesterday when he testified before the House Appropriations Committee.