The End of Bush may be Nigh Despite their efforts to limit the abuse to a handful of reservists in Abu Ghraib, the evidence many have suspected is slowly coming to the fore that demonstrates Rumsfeld and his Department of Defense Co-Horts blatently lied to Congress last week -- and have lied to the American Public about the depth of which detainee abuse and torture have been used in the last two and a half years. Who is on top of the story -- the story that may ultimately bring down the House of Bush -- who else but Seymour Hersh.

According to interviews with several past and present American intelligence officials, the Pentagon’s operation, known inside the intelligence community by several code words, including Copper Green, encouraged physical coercion and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners in an effort to generate more intelligence about the growing insurgency in Iraq. A senior C.I.A. official, in confirming the details of this account last week, said that the operation stemmed from Rumsfeld’s long-standing desire to wrest control of America’s clandestine and paramilitary operations from the C.I.A. Rumsfeld, during appearances last week before Congress to testify about Abu Ghraib, was precluded by law from explicitly mentioning highly secret matters in an unclassified session. But he conveyed the message that he was telling the public all that he knew about the story. He said, “Any suggestion that there is not a full, deep awareness of what has happened, and the damage it has done, I think, would be a misunderstanding.” The senior C.I.A. official, asked about Rumsfeld’s testimony and that of Stephen Cambone, his Under-Secretary for Intelligence, said, “Some people think you can bullshit anyone.”

The article begins discussing the nature of operations and interrogation techniques against Al Qaeda. But it moves on to discuss Iraq. When it became clear that the Pentagon had vastly understimated the extent and operations of the insurgency in Iraq late last Summer that things changed fundamentally.

The solution, endorsed by Rumsfeld and carried out by Stephen Cambone, was to get tough with those Iraqis in the Army prison system who were suspected of being insurgents. A key player was Major General Geoffrey Miller, the commander of the detention and interrogation center at Guantánamo, who had been summoned to Baghdad in late August to review prison interrogation procedures. The internal Army report on the abuse charges, written by Major General Antonio Taguba in February, revealed that Miller urged that the commanders in Baghdad change policy and place military intelligence in charge of the prison. The report quoted Miller as recommending that “detention operations must act as an enabler for interrogation.”

This is just a taste of what Hersh has uncovered. It is revolting stuff that Rumsfeld and Carbone -- from the top on down -- have been responsible for doing in our name. Fortunately the best investigative reporter in the country is on the story -- Hersh is like a dog with a bone on this and he isn't going to let go. The broadcast media is paying attention now and it is difficult to believe they will not be picking up on this information in the near future themselves. It is all coming back to Rumsfeld -- and after Bush recommitted himself to the marriage last week, he's stuck to the stink. The foundations are crumbling.