There's an AP story out there on Abu Ghraib, entitled "Bush Claimed Right to Waive Torture Laws." There's a catchy title. It is on memos released by the White House about how the issue of torture is to be handled in the War on Terror.
A couple of key points jump out from the article.
1. It's unclear whether or not the prisoners at Guantanemo and Abu Ghraib are entitled to any protection from the Geneva conventions. What is clear is that the White House, without any application to specific issues, was considering eliminating such protections for enemy combatants captured in the War on Terror. For a bit more on this subject, here's a New York Times piece on the subject.
2. The White House has reportedly stated that the Geneva Conventions apply in Iraq. It is unclear what they mean by that, however, particularly in the light of the insurgency.
3. It is hard to read these memos or the excerpts provided in the media and get a clear sense of what the administration believed, exactly. Certainly there have been some troubling statements, but we do not yet have a clear picture of how these attitudes and ideas in the White House translated into what happened at Abu Ghraib.
4. It's also unclear how much of this debate is motivated by political motives and how much is motivated by a genuine desire to get at the truth. But then again I'm not sure it matters much. I think the American people should have a clear picture of how the Abu Ghraib prison scandal came to pass, and if Senator Patrick Leahy is working to get that picture, than I'm not sure if I care if part of this is politically motivated. After all, this is at least as important as President Clinton's dalliance with Monica Lewinsky. We heard about that for a couple of years, and we've barely spent four months on this.
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