The Torture President

Why is George Bush fighting so hard for his bill to legalize torture ?
(The president goes to Capitol Hill to lobby for torture)

...Another former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and one more intimately familiar with the war on terrorism, also weighed in this week: "The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism," former general and secretary of state Colin L. Powell wrote to McCain. "To redefine Common Article 3 would add to those doubts."

Mr. Powell was referring to an article of the Geneva Conventions that prohibits cruel and degrading treatment of detainees. Mr. Bush, with support from most Republican congressional leaders, wants to redefine American obligations under the treaty. Three Republican senators -- John W. Warner of Virginia, chairman of the Armed Services Committee; Lindsey O. Graham of South Carolina; and Mr. McCain -- are bravely promoting an alternative measure that would allow terrorists to be questioned and tried without breaking faith with traditional U.S. values. The Armed Services Committee approved their bill yesterday and sent it to the Senate floor.



A popular theory is that it is a political stunt he expects to help in the elections. He was utterly incoherent and unresponsive when asked about it at his news conference.

Maybe so. Or maybe he, Cheney, and Rumsfeld are contemplating spending their declining years in prison in the Hague.

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