Republican "rebels" enable torture
09.24.06 - Posted by AsiansVote
Just in case you were wondering, the much-discussed Republican "rebellion" over the Bush Administration's torture policy has led to a compromise which -- surprise, surprise -- allows the Bush Administration to continue its torture policy. From the Washington Post:
... the senators who have fought to rein in the administration's excesses -- led by Sens. McCain, Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and John W. Warner (R-Va.) -- failed to break Mr. Bush's commitment to "alternative" methods that virtually every senior officer of the U.S. military regards as unreliable, counterproductive and dangerous for Americans who may be captured by hostile governments.
Mr. Bush wanted Congress to formally approve these practices and to declare them consistent with the Geneva Conventions. It will not. But it will not stop him either, if the legislation is passed in the form agreed on yesterday. Mr. Bush will go down in history for his embrace of torture and bear responsibility for the enormous damage that has caused.
As people have
argued for years, torture is
ineffective in getting reliable information. And, heaven help us all, for some reason it's necessary to repeat that torture is
evil.
If you agree, please contact your representatives in Congress today. According to the Washington Post, the McCain/Warner/Graham plan is to have Congress authorize the President to interpret the Geneva Coventions in a way that permits so-called "alternative" interrogation methods such as hypothermia and sleep deprivation. Tell your representatives that the use of torture leads to faulty information which endangers our country's security. And, yes, it's evil. So you fully expect them to speak out against and vote against the McCain/Warner/Graham plan. And if they do not, the courtesy of an explanation would be appreciated.
Politicians who voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq may now claim that they were misled by the Bush Administration about weapons of mass destruction. But anyone who votes for the McCain/Warner/Graham plan will have no such excuse. A vote for the plan is a vote for torture. Our representatives need to know that we're watching them as they vote on this issue -- and we'll forever remember what they do.
09.24.06 |
Civil Rights & Liberties
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Issues
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War
