The map of 54 countries that colluded with the U.S. in the policy of torture that was so grimly detailed in last week's Senate report is impressive in more ways than one.
It's hard to imagine any nation other than the United States persuading so many allies and dependents to take part in a program they must have known would one day blow up in their faces.
In that sense, the Senate report isn't only a revelation of U.S. intelligence malfeasance — it's a testimony to U.S. soft power, the diplomatic advantage that it has long wielded over geo-political competitors such as Russia and China. One need only compare Washington's success at finding international hosts for the CIA's so-called black sites with Russia's utter inability to persuade the world — aside from a small handful of countries including Cuba, Venezuela and Syria — to recognize its annexation of Crimea.