Dick Cheney’s chances of being labeled a war criminal must be causing him concern.

Why else would the nearly invisible man during his vice presidency become a regular Chatty Cathy after leaving office, particularly when the subject of U.S.-directed torture makes headlines?

Cheney’s criticism of the Obama administration and Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to appoint a special counsel to investigate torture allegations can’t be a matter of political differences. After all, this was a guy who argued forcefully that it was inappropriate to challenge a sitting administration on national security matters when he was in office.

Cheney wouldn’t be a hypocrite, would he?

No, I think Cheney’s worried where an investigation might go. And it might go to those at the top of the Bush administration, who actually authorized blatantly illegal treatment of suspected terrorists.

Specifically, it might lead to Cheney.

Despite examinations that have shown interrogation tactics violated U.S. law, the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions, Cheney steadfastly defends them. It seems that any actions approved by the government in the name of national security were legitimate.

Didn’t we hear similar logic at Nuremburg?

The former vice president also argues that the Obama administration, through the special counsel and other actions, is endangering America. He stresses these efforts could harm morale at the Central Intelligence Agency, which led the interrogation of terror suspects.

This is a legitimate concern, expressed by more credible authorities on torture than Cheney.

For instance, there’s John McCain, the Republican senator and former presidential candidate. During an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Aug. 30, McCain expressed concern about the investigation saying, “I worry about this thing getting out of control and us harming our ability to carry on the struggle that we’re in with radical Islamic extremism.”

But McCain also said something else about the program Cheney defended: “I think the interrogations were in violation of the Geneva Convention against torture that we ratified under President Reagan. I think that these interrogations, once publicized, helped al-Qaida recruit ... I think that the ability of us to work with our allies was harmed ... I believe that information according to the FBI and others could have been gained through other methods.”

A key point in McCain’s statement refers to the special counsel investigation “getting out of control.” Indeed, there is good reason to keep it focused on the issues at hand, and not having it turn into a political witch hunt.

And the most important issue is the need to send the message that in the war against terror, America diminishes itself when it abandons civilized and legal conduct.

It’s not enough to say exposed practices will not be repeated. How many examples do we, as a nation, need to prove unchecked power granted to any administration leads to abuses? If we look away from criminal conduct, that conduct will survive.