War Crimes Act Changes Would Reduce Threat Of Prosecution
The Bush administration are proposing making amendments to the War Crimes Act in order to "eliminate the risk of prosecution for political appointees, CIA officers and former military personnel for humiliating or degrading war prisoners, according to U.S. officials and a copy of the amendments."
It's interesting that the official thinks the reason that foreigners are complaining about this treatment is because they seek to "rein in American power" rather than because they find the idea of torture abhorrent and wrong. And anyway, any power that engages in as heinous an act as torture deserves to be reined in.Left off the list would be what the Geneva Conventions refer to as "outrages upon [the] personal dignity" of a prisoner and deliberately humiliating acts -- such as the forced nakedness, use of dog leashes and wearing of women's underwear seen at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq -- that fall short of torture.
"People have gotten worried, thinking that it's quite likely they might be under a microscope," said a U.S. official. Foreigners are using accusations of unlawful U.S. behavior as a way to rein in American power, the official said, and the amendments are partly meant to fend this off.
The idea that the nation which prides itself on freeing Europe from Nazism and rebuilding Germany and Japan now finds itself skulking about amending laws to render attaching false electrodes to someone's testicles legal is almost vomit inducing.
The Republicans used to claim that the difference between them and their enemies was that they held soldiers who committed war crimes accountable for their actions.
With this amendment, the distance between the two camps has been narrowed to America's shame.
The US no longer guarantee to afford any prisoner their rights under "Common Article 3" of the Geneva Conventions, which the United States ratified in 1949. Common Article 3 is considered the universal minimum standard of treatment for civilian detainees in wartime.
The people in the current White House are simply thugs. Common garden thugs.
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3 comments:
There is no excuse for torture. Ever. It doesn't even work. We Americans are delusional if we think such an act keeps us "safe".
Congrats on the Mike's Round Up mention. That's fine writing you've got there. The hits will come way faster than the comments, though. Don't worry about it. Keep up the good work and keep the faith.
torture does work, always
if your objective is to instill fear and anger in a given populous
uprisings and insurgencies are fueled by occupiers toturing your family, friends, & neighbors
create kaos, it's easier to steal
Thanks for the kind words Blue Gal.
And tofobo, you may have a point, but the objective is a horrible one. Agreed?
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