In the midst of all the recent political news, you may have missed a big headline from Germany: Rumsfeld and 11 other U.S. government and military officials are about to be investigated and prosecuted for the abuse of prisoners in the War on Terror.

The German court is authorized under German law to hear the case, since it has 'universal jurisdiction' over war crimes and similar offenses.

Which offenses? The plaintiffs include prisoners from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Mohammad al-Qahtani, a Saudi imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. The prisoners allege torture tactics such as forced nudity, sexual humiliation, religious humiliation, prolonged stress positions and sleep deprivation were used in their interrogations.

In al-Qahtani's case, Rumsfeld personally approved the plan for interrogation that included these techniques. TIME Magazine says that the log of al-Qahtani's interrogation notes that all of these methods were employed.

These torture tactics are virtually indefensible.

The most common argument is that the other side commits torture, or worse, and so we should be able to. I may be na??ve, but I would like to hold the United States to a higher standard than only doing what our opponents would do.

Besides, the other side doesn't do things like invade the United States, incite revolution in this nation, rape women here, drop bombs on our civilians, or impose sanctions on us. So, it's difficult to compare.

If these plaintiffs have a case against the U.S. officials, they have a right to a hearing in court. The reason the case is being held in Germany is that the United States refuses to participate in the International Criminal Court. Prosecution in Germany is the only way the plaintiffs can accuse Rumsfeld and the others.

The obvious complaint'one that was raised when the case was first brought in 2004'is that U.S. officials should not be subject to German law or German courts.

I would agree, if not for all the precedent that contradicts this. A Spanish court tried Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998. A Belgian court pressed charges against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for war crimes against Palestinians.

What is more, the German court dropped the 2004 case because it hoped the United States would investigate the charges. After two years of inaction, the Germans have decided to move forward.

If the interrogators employed the tactics listed above, then those who authorized them must be punished. Being an American, or a friend of the President, or a 'good guy' in the War on Terror does not exempt you from this.

Protecting American soldiers or the American public also does not exempt you from this. Sorry, but there are many, many more important things.

If you torture another person, you deserve to be subject to law.

And if your nation tries to protect you by silencing the accusers and by refusing to join the International Criminal Court, then other nations must step forward to do what is right.

As an American, I can only express regret that our courts do not have the intelligence or courage to try Rumsfeld here.

Our government is missing an opportunity to demonstrate that it knows that the United States is not above the law.