Bush alters rules for interrogations

[sabra]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - President Bush signed an executive order governing interrogation of terrorism suspects, prohibiting cruel and inhumane treatment , humiliation or denigration of prisoners' religious beliefs.

The White House declined to say whether the CIA currently has a detention and interrogation program, but said if it did, it must adhere to the guidelines outlined in the executive order. The order targets captured al-Qaida terrorists who have information on attack plans or the whereabouts of the group's senior leaders.

"Last September, the president explained how the CIA's program had disrupted attacks and saved lives, and that it must continue on a sound legal footing," White House press secretary Tony Snow said. "The president has insisted on clear legal standards so that CIA officers involved in this essential work are not placed in jeopardy for doing their job - and keeping America safe from attacks."

The executive order was the result of legislation Bush signed in October that authorized military trials of terrorism suspects, eliminated some of the rights defendants are usually guaranteed under U.S. law, and authorized continued harsh interrogations of terror suspects.

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/1573/story/643865.html

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. And his signing statement...?

"Fuck'em! Ah'm The Torture Prez, and will be waterboardin' any folks Ah so chuze!" :sarcasm:

[Jim__]

2. The MSNBC headline:

"Bush signs order banning cruel, inhumane treatment during interrogations"

The story is not clear; but I get the clear implication that he actually authorized "agreesive" interrogations. Are we supposed to differentiate between "cruel" and "agressive"? (I know the words have different meanings; but in this instance, I believe their meaning is the same.)

[sabra]

3. and how about all years up to today? was it not banned?

[havocmom]

4. Wondering if some military brass laid the law down to the AWOL wimp?

Any military officer worth a damn has to be appalled about the torture and the precedent it sets.

Hope they are standing up against illegal orders and making the chicken hawks back down.

[EFerrari]

5. Yeah, right. n/t

[Jack Bone]

6. I'm probably going out on limb here...

:tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat:

I'm not even sure on how to phrase this...

but just earlier in the week, Bush issued another EO expanding, in my interpretation, the classification of whom could be considered a terrorist.

a very expansive order where people's assets can be frozen if they gave aid or comfort to our enemies, or embolden them...something like that..

so if they're expanding the definition of who could be considered a terrorist, to possibly include a large cross-section of Americans...I think that altering interrogation methods & procedures would be a logical 2nd step...

I'm scared to death as to what the 3rd & 4th steps are gonna be...

:scared:

[rodeodance]

11. your limb is a big branch. You are onto something

[Jack Bone]

18. Thanks for reply...

These baby steps...this order...then another..then something else.

it's boiling the frog....and it's scary!!

[Ian David]

7. Did he call it "The Happy Suspects Initiative" or "No Detainee Left Behind?"

I'd like to see what the REAL standing orders are that are off the books.

This should be called, "The Presidential Plausible Deniability Enhancement Act."

[truth2power]

8. Hmmm...like reading Pravda under the Soviet regime..

Some here have suggested that we need to start reading between the lines to get the REAL story, just like the Russian people did in the USSR.

So, why would Boots find it necessary to put in writing that "cruel and inhumane treatment" of prisoners is prohibited?? Up until now, it was sufficient for him to just say, "We don't torture." <smirk> <smirk>.

Is it possible that they see that the shit's going to hit the fan, in terms of their worthless hides, so they're getting out in front of it? Maybe they're thinking someone might make them accountable for their crimes against humanity?

Probably not in this universe, but I can dream... :evilgrin:

[rodeodance]

9. "the president can "interpret the meaning and application" of international standards"

this is the important part folks!!




The legislation said the president can "interpret the meaning and application" of international standards for prisoner treatment, a provision intended to allow him to authorize aggressive interrogation methods that might otherwise be seen as illegal by international courts.

The United States has been criticized by European allies and others around the world over interrogation techniques such as "waterboarding," in which prisoners are strapped to a plank over water and are made to fear that they may be drowned. Critics also have complained that the CIA has run secret prisons on European soil and mistreated prisoners during clandestine flights in and out of Europe.

Bush has repeatedly said that the United States does not practice torture.

The White House did not detail what types of interrogation procedures would be allowed. But it did offer parameters, saying any conditions of confinement and interrogation practices could not include:

[rodeodance]

10. ----any 'alter'-ing is for his benefit!

[IsItJustMe]

12. Bush alters rules for interrogations

Source: By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer

President Bush signed an executive order Friday prohibiting cruel and inhuman treatment, including humiliation or denigration of religious beliefs, in the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects.

<snip>

The United States has been criticized by European allies and others around the world over interrogation techniques such as "waterboarding," in which prisoners are strapped to a plank over water and are made to fear that they may be drowned. Critics also have complained that the CIA has run secret prisons on European soil and mistreated prisoners during clandestine flights in and out of Europe.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070720/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_terrorism

---

I guess it's all in how you define torture.

[lonestarnot]

13. Yes it is.

[Ian David]

14. The order also says that is has no force of law.

Bush’s New Interrogation Order Contains Loophole: ‘Does Not Create Any Right Enforceable At Law’
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1389475&mesg_id=1389475

[rodeodance]

15. "legislation said the president can "interpret the meaning and application" of international standar

.....The executive order was the result of legislation Bush signed in October that authorized military trials of terrorism suspects. The court system was designed to protect classified information and eliminated some of the rights defendants are guaranteed in civilian and military courts.

It also gave Bush wide latitude in interrogating and detaining captured enemy combatants. While it outlines specific war crimes such as rape, the legislation said the president can "interpret the meaning and application" of international standards set by the Geneva Conventions when authorizing less severe interrogation procedures.

[rodeodance]

17. also says they can not contact the Inter. red cross!!

.....The executive order has been months in the making, with some in the CIA increasingly eager to get the rules of the road laid out. Asked if one of the agency's most extreme techniques — waterboarding — would be allowed, a senior intelligence official declined to provide any specifics. But, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity about the order, said: "It would be wrong to assume the program of the past transfers to the future."

While the order did not provide many specifics, CIA Director Michael Hayden asked the Justice Department to prepare a legal opinion on techniques the agency can use, and the CIA has prepared guidance to its operatives in the field, according to the senior official.

In a call with reporters, senior administration officials repeatedly refused to say what specific kinds of interrogation techniques would be barred, arguing that doing so could tip off al-Qaida members training to withstand hostile questioning. But sleep is not among the basic necessities outlined in the order, one official said, opening the possibility that sleep deprivation is among the approved interrogation methods.

The order also does not permit detainees to contact their family members or have access to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Explaining why, one official said those provisions are not part of the part of the Geneva Conventions that apply to these kinds of detainees.

[Lasher]

16. You can't un-ring a bell.

[struggle4progress]

19. C.I.A. Allowed to Resume Interrogations

By MARK MAZZETTI
Published: July 20, 2007

WASHINGTON, July 20 — After months of behind the scenes wrangling, the White House said Friday that it had given the Central Intelligence Agency approval to resume its use of some harsh interrogation methods in questioning terrorism suspects in secret prisons overseas.

With the new authorization, administration officials said the C.I.A. could now proceed with an interrogation program that has been in limbo since the Supreme Court ruled last year that all prisoners in American captivity be treated in accordance with Geneva Convention prohibitions against humiliating and degrading treatment of detainees.

An executive order signed by President Bush allows the C.I.A. to use some interrogation methods banned for military interrogators ~snip~

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/20/washington/20cnd-intel.html?hp

[struggle4progress]

20. US: Presidential Order Affirms CIA Secret Detentions

Allows Detention in Violation of Geneva Conventions

(New York, July 20, 2007) – President George W. Bush’s new executive order on the Central Intelligence Agency’s detention and interrogation program is contrary to the Geneva Conventions, Human Rights Watch said today.
The new order, issued today, purports to determine that the CIA’s detention and interrogation program “fully complies” with US obligations under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 as long as the CIA follows a series of requirements in carrying out the program.

But enforced disappearance – the hallmark of the CIA program, involving secret, incommunicado detention – is itself inconsistent with the requirement under Common Article 3 that detainees be treated humanely. A number of CIA prisoners were held for three or more years in secret detention facilities, known as “black sites,” before being transferred to military custody at Guantanamo Bay in September 2006. Others who were believed to have been held in CIA detention remain “disappeared.”

“By international human rights and humanitarian law standards, the CIA program is illegal to its core,” said Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director at Human Rights Watch. “Although the new executive order bars torture and other abuse, the order still can’t purport to legalize a program that violates basic rights.” ~snip~

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/07/20/usdom16444_txt.htm

[struggle4progress]

21. Amnesty International Considers New Bush Executive Order 'Same Old Song'

WASHINGTON, July 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

Jumana Musa, Amnesty International USA advocacy director for domestic human rights and international justice and an international law attorney, issued the following statement in response to President Bush's executive order regarding the interpretation of the Geneva Conventions Common Article 3 as it applies to the Central Intelligence Agency's program of detention and interrogation.

"Today's executive order is noteworthy for what it does not say as much as for what is does state. Although the order prohibits rape, sexual assault or abuse, sexual humiliation and denigration of religion, the deafening silence on other techniques that the CIA may have used, such as waterboarding, the cold room technique and sleep deprivation, speaks volumes. The United States can no longer hide behind the specter of
national security and providing so-called 'too much information' to Al Qaeda to avoid an outright rejection of such patently unlawful techniques.

"The broader problem with this executive order is that it works off the mistaken contention that there is a global war that extends the law of war framework to every corner of the world. This misappropriation of humanitarian law has been used by the administration to avoid human rights law and assert ultimate executive authority over detention and interrogation of anyone President Bush designates an 'unlawful enemy combatant.'

"Also, this order is designed to determine the lawfulness of interrogation techniques that can be used in the CIA's 'program of detention' -- widely known as an illegal program of 'disappearances'and secret prisons. A legitimate interrogation regime cannot cure the illegality of this despicable practice and does not bring this nation in line with its treaty obligations. ~snip~

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-20-2007/0004629757&EDATE=

[alfredo]

22. Feels like I'm being jerked off. It's just words, and from bush's lips

they will be lies.

[cutlassmama]

23. ditto n/t

[OregonBlue]

24. Isn't it most likely that something is about to break open and he is trying to get ahead of it?

[mzmolly]

25. Impeachment worries perhaps?

:eyes: A little late huh Georgie?