Thursday, December 15, 2005

Shady deals

Bushco and John McCain have apparently reached an agreement on torture which begs more questions than it answers:
After months of resistance, the White House has agreed to accept Senator John McCain's call for a law banning cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of foreign suspects in the war on terror, several congressional officials said Thursday.

Under the emerging deal, the CIA and other civilian interrogators would be given the same legal rights as currently guaranteed members of the military who are accused of breaking interrogation guidelines, these officials added. Those rules say the accused can defend themselves by arguing it was reasonable for them to believe they were obeying a legal order.
Just to set the record straight: Bushco supposedly does not torture people, and does not condone torture. So clearly nobody could reasonably conclude that the regime or its officials had authorized torture.

But just in case that wasn't so, anybody who happens to receive an order that can reasonably be interpreted as authorizing torture is free to act on that perception. And if supervisors happen to issue vague directions which lower-ranking interrogators reasonably misinterpret to allow torture, leaving nobody accountable for the activity...well, things happen, right?

The tone of the article makes it sound like the deal is a victory for McCain. But the reality appears to be just the opposite: the deal only highlights Bushco's determination to preserve at least some grey area to allow torture to occur without consequences. And Congress' willingness to go along with that tactic won't do anything to repair the U.S.' record on human rights.

No comments:

Post a Comment