Bush officials authorized torture of US citizen, lawyers say

Bush officials authorized torture of US citizen, lawyers say

rawstory.com

Attorneys for US citizen Jose Padilla -- who was convicted of material support for terrorist activities in 2007 -- say that high-level Bush Administration officials knew their client was being tortured during the time he was held an enemy combatant in a South Carolina brig, because of the command structure and that then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld employed in approving harsh interrogation tactics.

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This story plus the recent John Yoo admission of torture "to outwit defense lawyers" are grounds for the prosecution of administration officials for War Crimes!

John Yoo, for all his alleged brilliance, is a victim of severe cognitive disfunction. In 1988, the Sainted Ronald Reagan signed the Convention Against Torture. The Senate ratified the treaty, making it the law of the land:

"Article 1

1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person . . .

Article 2

1. Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.

2. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political in stability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.

3. An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture."

What part of "no exceptional circumstances may be invoked" does Yoo not understand?? Give me 20 minutes, an 80 amp Diehard and 8 gauge jumper cables, and I'm pretty sure I can change his mind for him.

"The original charge leveled at Padilla when he was arrested in 2002 was that he was part of a "dirty bomb" al Qaeda plot. By the time he was charged five years later, government lawyers had dropped the charge."

rawstory.com
(visit the link for the full news article)