A
Anonymous
Guest
On Canadian radio they were talking today about this-- that Bush/Cheney have painted themselves into a corner-- If they admit that waterboarding is torture- they then admit they authorized torture of detainees- which puts them liable for War Crimes charges under International Law....If not- then they are saying they don't recognize the torture definition under International Law- which then opens all US servicemen around the world to torture without the capability of the US being able to bring War Crimes charges against them....
Probably doesn't mean much- but an interesting situation....
Probably doesn't mean much- but an interesting situation....
CIA boss: Waterboarding may be illegal
By LARA JAKES JORDAN and PAMELA HESS
Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Debate over waterboarding flared Thursday on Capitol Hill, with the CIA director raising doubts about whether it's currently legal and the attorney general refusing to investigate U.S. interrogators who have used the technique on terror detainees.
Vice President Dick Cheney, meanwhile, said "it's a good thing" that top al-Qaida leaders who underwent the harsh interrogation tactic in 2002 and 2003 were forced to give up information that helped protect the country.
"It's a good thing we had them in custody, and it's a good thing we found out what they knew," Cheney told the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, President Bush has "made the right decisions for the right reasons," Cheney said. "And would I support those same decisions again today? You're damn right I would."
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Mukasey has refused to say publicly whether he considers waterboarding legal. On Thursday he said it "was found to be permissible under the law as it existed" in the years immediately following 9/11.
Critics say waterboarding violates the U.N. Convention Against Torture and U.S. laws outlining legal treatment of detainees. The Justice Department long has resisted exposing the Bush administration and its employees to criminal or civil charges or even international war crimes if waterboarding were declared illegal.
Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, called Thursday's testimony an example of "the gold standard of double standards."
"Everyone in the world knows that waterboarding is torture and illegal," Cox said. "The U.S. government admits having done it. Yet the highest law enforcement official in the land refuses to investigate this scandal."