Wednesday, January 5, 2005

U.S. Knows Best

Bush's Counsel Sought Ruling About Torture
"The request by Mr. Gonzales produced the much-debated Justice Department memorandum of Aug. 1, 2002, which defined torture narrowly and said that Mr. Bush could circumvent domestic and international prohibitions against torture in the name of national security."
...
"The revision stated that "torture is abhorrent both to American law and values and international norms." It rejected the language in the earlier memorandum, which said that only physical pain "of an intensity akin to that which accompanies serious physical injury such as death or organ failure" constituted torture punishable by law."
Well, I'm glad that the revision reflects what I feel is the only civilized opinion to hold on torture, but the idea that a government official sought to circumvent international law gives me the bad kind of chills.

Now, the cynic in me wonders if it's always this way, but these people are just dumb enough to get caught.

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