It seems clear that Cheney is trying to protect himself from future criminal charges and/or war crimes tribunals. It’s no secret that Cheney authorized torture; he admits it. It’s also no secret that torture and other illegal acts were accepted as official administration policy. Previously secret White House memos drafted by the infamous John Yoo are steadily being released by the Obama administration. Those memos indicate how broadly the Bush administration interpreted its powers.
That leads us to the present situation. On the one hand you have what appear to be illegal activities—possibly even war crimes—that were explicitly approved by administration officials. And on the other, you have an Obama administration that isn’t going to engage in a Nixon-esque cover-up to protect government officials. And yet, Obama is unwilling to convene a commission to further investigate what went on.
The reason for the President’s reluctance, I think, is that Obama doesn’t want there to be the appearance of political retribution. Even those who hated what the Bush administration did would raise their eyebrows at efforts to exact political revenge. Conceivably, however, if the political furor regarding the Bush administration’s alleged acts died down, Obama, or the next president, could convene a bipartisan tribunal. But as long as the issue is politicized, such a tribunal wouldn’t be taken seriously and couldn’t hope to be effective.
If the Europeans don't get to him first, something will happen in the second term.
For now, the administration is calmly releasing info at a pace that stops accusations of partisanship or being 'weak on terror' and does not distract from the current economic battle.
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