US releases hundreds of pages of previously secret documents

Secret documents show permission was never given to torture military prisoners. They suggest that aggressive policies set out by some administration lawyers were rejected by the Pentagon.

It appears that the Bush administration has finally got its ducks in a row. So either they never sanctioned prisoner abuse, or the ink is barely dry on these historical documents.

news.bbc.co.uk...

The documents are a smattering of the real stuff, selected as they are the ones that would show a trail of the most plausible defense of the indefensible.

How the media treat them is of interest, what they choose to highlight and what biases are brought about.

Here are some already apparent contradictions:

"Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's November 2002 memo approved several methods which apparently would violate Geneva Convention rules, including:

putting detainees in "stress positions" for up to four hours;
removing their clothes;
intimidating them with dogs;
interrogating them for 20 hours at a time;
forcing them to wear hoods;
shaving their heads and beards;
using "mild, non-injurious physical contact" such as prodding.

Less than two months later, Mr Rumsfeld withdrew approval for those methods, reportedly on advice from military lawyers. He appointed a Pentagon panel to recommend interrogation methods."

Approved then disapproved... then what, and when, and how often, and by whom? What is not mentioned in these so-called "secret documents" and what documentation has not been released is going to be of more interest. Already this release is perceived as a self-serving move by a desperate administration. It won't stop the rot.


[edit on 24-6-2004 by MaskedAvatar]

I mean, would you really expect the Bush administration to release documents that smear their image to the public...C'mon, of course not. It's up to investigative journalists to find out what's really going on. And then of course they are just slandered, fired from their jobs, or whatever else...

But of course, its not up to the administration to prove themselves wrong. They have to be arrogant, it's STRONG!

i feel that all these evidences are just a political stunt. the fact of the matter is that these incidents happened during his watch and he being the chief should take responsibility for it and get on with it.