KARL: Did you authorize the tactics that were used against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?
CHENEY: I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency, in effect, came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do. And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it. There was a period of time there three or four years ago when about half of everyting we knew about al-Qaeda came from that one source. So it's been a remarkably successful effort. I think the results speak for themselves.
KARL: In hindsight, do you think any of those tactics that were used against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others went too far?
CHENEY: I don't.
KARL: And on KSM, one of those tactics, of course, widely reported was waterboarding. And that seems to be a tactic we no longer use. Even that you think was appropriate?
CHENEY: I do.
Simply put, a prosecutor only needs to show that waterboarding is, in fact, a form of torture as defined and prohibited by Geneva (lots of precedent for waterboarding = torture) and boom. War crime conviction. However, someone as smart and devilish as Vice President Cheney doesn't go around confessing to things he could feasibly be prosecuted for.
There are safety nets for him, possibly beginning with a presidential pardon. And who knows, he's not a healthy man -- in a serious sense, he might not be around much longer. Beyond that, there are a wide array of protections including executive priviledge. Bottom line, a conviction of Cheney is extraordinarily unlikely. Unfortunately. Because there he is on television and in our internet saying, "I supported it."