ABUSE CRISIS: Memo Says Bush was Not Restricted by Torture Bans

In an interesting and eye opening report a 56 page memo shows that the President did not have any restrictions by torture bans; such as a global treaty banning torture, the Geneva Conventions and a U.S. federal law against torture. This answers questions and raises many new ones...



I watched some of this hearing today on cable and it got quite heated and political agendas were more than obvious. John Ashcroft refused to release the documents while Democrats accused the Bush administration of undermining bans on use of torture.

This does indeed answer a few questions but leaves me with this one. Just how much did the Bush Administration really know about the abuse being used in "INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES" in both Afghanistan and Iraq?

And just how much did the President really know?

It will be interesting to see how all of this evolves as the investigation continues. I for one hope that it can be proven that no one knew about the abuse except the abusers. Because if it goes up through the chain of command all the way to the top it will be a sad day again for our country.


[edit on 9-6-2004 by Banshee]

You must know already that it went up the entire chain of command. You only need to know the track record of cover-up and criminality in this administration. Why are you clutching at straws? How much do you need to bear? The administration is totally corrupt and attempts to circumvent every law, be it to do with elections, commerce, national security, freedom of information, international treaties, civil rights or any other statute imaginable.

It is done through smoke and mirrors, through engineering circumstances of national emergency, through lying to Congress and through Presidential Executive Orders of a volume never seen before in the US.

It is not just another sad day again, it is the extended darkest hour in US history.

I'll try and keep politics out of my reply. Kind of hard in this case. I find it hard to believe that in a time of war he wouldn't know what was going on especially since the report seems to indicate he did. Even IF he gets reelected in November (which I doubt will happen) I find it unlikely that he will see the end of his next term. Impeachment seems likely. Or a war crimes trial.

Originally posted by MaskedAvatar

It is done through smoke and mirrors, through engineering circumstances of national emergency, through lying to Congress and through Presidential Executive Orders of a volume never seen before in the US.

It is not just another sad day again, it is the extended darkest hour in US history.

With all due respect MaskedAvatar I think the Jury is still out on this one. I think it is best for all to understand that this is a part of an ongoing investigation it is still too soon to judge the president or anyone involved. They said the investigation would go where the evidence lead them. and this memo is only a part of the larger story.

I will agree that IF it is proven beyond a doubt that it did indeed go all the way up to the top it will be a very dark day for our nation.

Gazz

[edit on 8-6-2004 by UM_Gazz]

Investigations convened by the administration about the administration's activity are quite useless.

When you seek to control and get near to controlling three branches of government with nonchalance and hubris, these are the things that will happen.

This is a link where you can read the memo in its entirety. Its titled "Working Group Report on Detainee Interrogations in the Global War on Terrorism: Assessment of Legal, Historical, Policy, and Operational Considerations."
www.ccr-ny.org...