It's becoming increasingly clear that my theory about the relationship between torture and Iraq is reasonably close to the mark. As we learn more information, the purpose of the Bush administration's torture policy seems to have been motivated by a need to bolster a pretext for the invasion and occuption, and so investigating torture would lead to a broader indictment of the officials who pushed for the war.
In addition to citing WWII British interrogator Colonel Robin “Tin Eye” Stephens who insisted that violent interrogations were ineffective, John Cole observes:
So why do people torture? The answer is simple; when reality doesn’t suit your needs, torture lets you make your own reality.
In this case, the fabricated reality was Iraq.