Bush’s torture ban is full of loopholes
Salon
by David Cole
07/23/07
Once upon a time, a U.S. official’s condemnation of torture was a statement of moral principle. Today, it is an opportunity for obfuscation. We have learned that when President Bush says, ‘We don’t torture,’ it’s important to read the fine print. So it was once again on July 20, when Bush issued a long-awaited executive order purporting to regulate interrogation tactics used by the CIA in the ‘war on terror.’ According to a White House press release, the order provides ‘clear rules’ to implement the Geneva Conventions governing treatment of detainees in wartime — rules the administration insisted did not even apply to the ‘war on terror’ until the Supreme Court ruled otherwise last summer. But while the new rules reflect a significant retreat by the administration from its initial torture policies, they are anything but ‘clear,’ come far too late in the day, and in any event are unenforceable...
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/07/23/torture/
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=executive+order
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=interrogation
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=David+Cole
by David Cole
07/23/07
Once upon a time, a U.S. official’s condemnation of torture was a statement of moral principle. Today, it is an opportunity for obfuscation. We have learned that when President Bush says, ‘We don’t torture,’ it’s important to read the fine print. So it was once again on July 20, when Bush issued a long-awaited executive order purporting to regulate interrogation tactics used by the CIA in the ‘war on terror.’ According to a White House press release, the order provides ‘clear rules’ to implement the Geneva Conventions governing treatment of detainees in wartime — rules the administration insisted did not even apply to the ‘war on terror’ until the Supreme Court ruled otherwise last summer. But while the new rules reflect a significant retreat by the administration from its initial torture policies, they are anything but ‘clear,’ come far too late in the day, and in any event are unenforceable...
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/07/23/torture/
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=executive+order
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=interrogation
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=David+Cole
rudkla - 23. Jul, 11:55
