President Obama opens door to prosecution regarding torture techniques

WASHINGTON - The Team Bush brain trust that approved CIA torture techniques faces a roughing-up after President Obama reopened the possibility of investigation - and even prosecution.
Just five days after urging against "recrimination" for the George W. Bush-era torture of terror suspects, President Obama said Attorney General Eric Holder is free to probe the White House higher-ups who authorized the tough treatment.
"With respect to those who formulated those legal decisions, I would say that that is going to be more of a decision for the attorney general within the parameters of various laws, and I don't want to prejudge that," Obama said.
"I think that there are a host of very complicated issues involved there," he added.
Obama last week released several Justice Department memos revealing the tough treatment at the hands of U.S. operatives.
At the time, he granted immunity for the CIA operatives who carried out the rough interrogations of Al Qaeda terror suspects and showed no appetite for a legal or political flogging of that policy's authors.
"We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history," Obama said then. "But at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past."
Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel then said Sunday that there would be no prosecutions of those who devised the interrogation policies.
But yesterday White House sources told the Daily News Emanuel had jumped the gun on a position that was still evolving.
The President also reversed course yesterday by signaling a willingness to create a blue-ribbon panel, similar to the 9/11 commission, to investigate the Bush team's behind-the-scenes actions in the war on terror.
"If and when there needs to be a further accounting of what took place during this period, I think for Congress to examine ways that it can be done in a bipartisan fashion ... would probably be a more sensible approach to take," Obama said.
Meanwhile, Fidel Castro said Obama "misinterpreted" his brother Raul's comments about the United States last week that raised speculation the two countries could be nearing a thaw in their icy relationship.
Raul Castro said Cuban leaders would we willing to discuss a variety of issues with the U.S., including human rights, freedom of the press and political prisoners.
Fidel Castro wrote in an essay yesterday that Obama "without a doubt link..