Opinion

In pursuit of truth and lessons

US President George W. Bush (R) and Vice President Dick Cheney walk to the Rose Garden on July 10, 2008 for Bush to sign H.R. 6304, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, at the White House in Washington, DC. The bill would expand legal authority for electronic wiretaps by spy agencies and includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications firms which aided warrantless government surveillance operations following the September 11 attacks. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) less US President George W. Bush (R) and Vice President Dick Cheney walk to the Rose Garden on July 10, 2008 for Bush to sign H.R. 6304, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, at the White House in Washington, DC. The ... more Photo: Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images Photo: Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close In pursuit of truth and lessons 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Last week, the file cabinets at the Department of Justice rolled open. Out came the most brazen thinking imaginable: In the weeks after the 9/11 attacks, ultra-con lawyers said the military could blow up apartment buildings, eavesdrop on anyone and even suspend freedom of the press. All in the name of the war on terror.

It may all sound like more of the same, another collection of the Bush-Cheney greatest hits as the White House inner circle dreamed up ways to counter the attacks. But it's also the latest exhibit in the case for a "truth commission" that Congress is considering to investigate the Bush era.

There are reasons to worry about the notion. It could become a partisan piñata that Democrats exploit for attention and Republicans smack as a useless diversion. It could end up producing a political meltdown instead of fresh take on modern history.

Or it could elucidate how this nation went from the Bill of Rights to an anti-terrorist mind set that fostered warrantless wiretaps, foreign prisons, torture and radical notions of unfettered presidential war powers.

The commission concept could well go nowhere. President Obama - whose Blackberry is jammed with e-mails on the economy, health care, global warming and two wars - is cool to the idea. Asked about a truth panel, he said he's "more interested in looking forward than I am in looking backwards."

His Republican foes feel just the same, seeing the commission idea as partisan payback. The chief booster of the truth commission is Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, the Democrat who chairs his chamber's judiciary committee, where such legislation would likely originate.

The commission's design is vague for now. Leahy held a dog-and-pony hearing with invited luminaries who both praised and criticized the overall idea without getting into details. The hearing did draw out one telling result: Strong doubts from Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican and the kind of a moderate needed to give the commission bipartisan credibility.

There is any number of directions the commission idea could head. There could be a independent or special prosecutor, a joint panel within Congress or a blue-ribbon commission of elders. The powers could be carefully drawn to make sure it has access to all the necessary records and inside players.

This design work is exactly where the commission will make or break itself. Leahy needs to produce a specific plan soon. For now he's more interested in taking Washington's temperature.

Properly drawn, a commission could go a long way in explaining and understanding the policies that brought discredit on this country. It's time to pursue the truth.