Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Above The Law

How does this not make them war criminals? (from Reuters):

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush's most senior advisers approved "enhanced interrogation techniques" of top al Qaeda suspects by the Central Intelligence Agency, ABC News reported on Wednesday, citing sources it did not name.

ABC reported that the so-called "principals" discussed interrogation details in dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House.

Then national security adviser Condoleezza Rice chaired the meetings, which took place in the White House Situation Room and were typically attended by a select group of senior officials or their deputies, ABC said.

"Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects -- whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding," ABC reported.

In addition to Rice, the principals at the time included Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft, the report said.

...

Waterboarding has been condemned by many members of Congress, human rights groups and other countries as a form of illegal torture. Bush and administration officials have said repeatedly that the United States does not use or condone torture.

Rummy works at Stanford University. John Yoo (the torture memo author) teaches law at UC Berkeley. How could these universities even want to keep them employed?

Geneva Conventions

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