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The Power of a Dictator: The "Right" to Torture |
Infowars.com
June 08, 2004
Sure, Bush is a dictator -- they're admitting that by claiming that he has the "right" to torture terror suspects. Never mind that this is the kind of power and activity that justified our pursuit of Saddam Hussein...If the Pentagon and the men he put in power say he's above the law and that he has "supreme authority," then we must all trust in the judgement of our all-powerful leader... |
US 'not bound by torture laws'
BBC
June 7, 2004
A Pentagon report last year argued that President George W Bush was not bound by laws banning the use of torture, according to the Wall Street Journal. The document also argued that torturers acting under presidential orders could not be prosecuted, the paper said.
The report was written by military and civilian lawyers for US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
It came after staff at Guantanamo Bay complained normal interrogation tactics were not eliciting enough information.
The document outlined why restrictions on torture under US laws and international treaties might be overcome by considerations for national security or legal technicalities, the newspaper reported.
Vital intelligence
The draft argued that because nothing was more important than "obtaining intelligence vital to the protection of untold thousands of American citizens" normal strictures on torture might not apply, according to the Journal.
The report contended that the president, as commander-in-chief, has the authority to approve almost any physical or psychological actions during interrogation, including torture, the newspaper reported.
It said it had reviewed a draft dated 6 March, 2003, and had not seen the full final report.
But people familiar with the final text said there were few substantial changes from the draft version, the Wall Street Journal added.
It is not known whether President George W Bush has ever seen the report.
The Bush administration has said it supports the Geneva Conventions and humane treatment for detainees.
Lawyers Argue Bush Can 'Legally Order Torture'
The Scotsman
June 08, 2004
A group of lawyers in the Bush administration argued that the president has supreme authority over the questioning of terrorist suspects, and can legally order interrogators to torture or commit other crimes against them, it has emerged today.
The lawyers were part of a working group writing a policy governing interrogation techniques to be used at the prison for terrorist suspects at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The arguments are one group's reflections on interrogation law and torture, a Pentagon spokesmen said, and the legal latitude they describe is wider than the military gives itself.
Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said the final set of interrogation methods adopted for use at Guantanamo in April 2003 are humane, legal and useful. It is a narrower set of methods than some had proposed.
Di Rita described the paper as a staff legal analysis that was part of an internal Bush administration debate on how to obtain intelligence from al Qaida operatives in US custody, within the confines of a standard of humane treatment.
The intelligence sought was to prevent terrorist attacks, he said.
The lawyers behind the paper include attorneys from both the Defence and Justice Departments, and possibly other parts of the government.
The paper offers insight into some of the legal thinking going on within the Bush administration regarding the prosecution of the war on terrorism. It discusses both domestic law and international treaties governing torture and the treatment of prisoners, and concludes Bush has vast legal authority for a number of reasons.
Mary Ellen O'Connell, a professor of international law at Ohio State University who has seen the draft paper, called its arguments unconvincing.
“In every case it finds defences, narrower readings of that statute, or justifications that allow torture in a wide variety of circumstances,” she said. “The legal analysis is weak.”
Ultimately, the Pentagon adopted a set of 24 interrogation methods it would use at Guantanamo, Di Rita said. The majority are psychological tricks and techniques described in Army field manuals.
The seven techniques not found in manuals include isolating a prisoner from others, altering his diet (but still providing him adequate food to survive), and questioning him up to 20 hours at a time for up to three days, he said.
Four of the seven non-standard methods require at least tacit approval from Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. None are torture in the Pentagon's view.
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