Some is better than none.

17,000 or so people, mostly but not all Cambodians, entered a small high school in downtown Phnom Penh, in the second half of the 1970's. The three main buildings of relatively equal size in a U-shaped layout, are a couple of blocks off a main avenue. The three or four stories had balconies connecting the doors to the rooms facing the court yard enclosure of the buildings on three sides, the street on the fourth.

They weren't students; they were prisoners. They didn't ask questions, but were asked them. They didn't write; instead, they dictated long personal histories, transcribed by others who were not teachers. Not taught, these "confessions" were elicited by torture; there was no exercise, except that of the others who were not teachers, in its administration.

They didn't paint, but years later one man would. That man was made to sculpt the image of another man, Pol Pot, over and over again. Because of this, the artist, Van Nath, would be one of the dozen or so who would live through the reign of the Khmer Rouge. Still, some is better than none.

Look familiar? Indeed, it should. The above is one in a series made by Nath of the varied tortures used in Tuol Sleng, as the school became known, referring to the once school as "poison." It is a depiction of a man being waterboarded. Looks like torture to me. Apparently it felt like it as well to Christopher Hitchens, who allowed himself to be waterboarded by ex-military trained in the practice. You can watch the video here. He lasted a only few seconds. But, some is better than none.

Today, the former head of the prison, Comrade Duch, will go on trial, more than 30 years after its opening. This represents the first major figure in the Khmer Rogue to ever be put on trial. Pol Pot, the Stalin/Mao figure of Cambodia was allowed to die in the same jungle from which he waged his campaign of terror.

No wonder: the democratically (sort-of) elected, current and long-time Prime Minister of Cambodia was himself a high-ranking comrade in the Khmer Rouge. For this and other reasons, some in the country say this will be the only trial of a top official to be allowed to take place. In custody, waiting for trial sit a handful of other top Khmer Rouge. And, still, some is better than none.

Here at home, there are similar calls for justice for some of past Administration. At least a "truth and reconciliation," if not criminal charges for Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bush, et al. There doesn't seem to be much interest for this in Congress, from the press, or from the President. But, who knows, maybe they'll get Colin Powell on knowingly lying to the U.N. or Condi Rice on her incompetence as National Security Advisor before 9-11 (hm, funny, they're both black.) My vote is for George "slam dunk" Tenet, or some other higher-up at the CIA; less for the bad intel concerning Sadam's (lack of) WMDs and more about the Company's failure to alert the FBI--or someone--to their knowledge that the 9-11 hijackers were in the country.

Now, even 30 years down the line, some would be better than none.