John Carter: One problem with your thesis regarding Bush and Cheney: The United States is not governed by 'international law'. Our laws derive from OUR Constitution, now from some utopian fantasy of government of global consensus --Not trying to be pejorative; but, 'international law' is a construct made out of whole cloth by the media and various political groups to try to cast aspersions on their political enemies. Even the often praised UN and the Geneva Convention are not 'international law', as they are not the result of true global consensus or a global government.
Also, since when is 'lying' to the American people a crime deserving a life sentence? You seem to have forgotten Bill "I did not have sex with that woman." Clinton, who lost his license to practice law for perjury, or his wife, Hillary, who took egregious liberties with the facts during her entire tenure as Secretary of State-blaming it on a head injury that occurred afterwards. What about our current President "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it." (among other whoppers) Obama and Al "The polar ice cap will be gone by 2015" Gore? Should they be punished? Should Obama be sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering civilians with drone strikes, as murder is condemned in almost every nation, making it an 'international' law? Let's face it, if Bush and Cheney lied half as much or flaunted half as many laws as our current president, they would have not just been figuratively crucified by the press; so, why not stick to the question at hand rather than attempting a straw man argument and blaming Obama's predecessor for his own actions.
And, if Obama did not break the letter of the law in unilaterally freeing 5 Taliban militia, he certainly tortured it well beyond any recognizable limits