Bush Supports Torture Again

Andrew Sullivan is incensed at Bush over the fact that the new version of the Army Field Manual will not ban torture.

Here's the history based mostly on this article in the LA Times:

In the 1949 Geneva Convention Article 3 talks about internal conflicts, not international ones. Article 3 says really basic things like people who have not been hostile should not be tortured, taken hostage, humilated or degraded and should not be sentenced without a court. It also says the wounded and sick should be cared for and given access to the Red Cross.

"The old version of the U.S. directive on detainees says the military will 'comply with the principles, spirit and intent' of the Geneva Convention." After all, this is the kind of thing you want to be on the good side of and the US has always been a world leader in.

"But, in 2002, Bush suspended portions of the Geneva Convention for captured Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters."

In 2005, the McCain Amendment set the standard as a "prohibition against cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment." It passed Congress and Bush signed it so it's law. But Bush included a signing statement with it saying he could choose to ignore it.

Now the Pentagon is rewriting the miltary guidelines for detainees. "Military lawyers [JAGs] and other defense officials" wanted to restore the Geneva rules. However, Cheney's office and the intelligence arm of the Pentagon opposed them. So they got removed. The State Department "fiercely opposes" the decision since it means we lose the moral highground and other nations already think we torture people. It just fuels our enemies.

The title of Sullivan's article is "We Torture". He's right, this is our government doing this. And I think it sucks.