More On Torture etc

Apparently there is an excuse for torture, or at least, that's what the US Justice Department and Department of Defense lawyers have concluded. By now the story is well circulated that government lawyers presented memos laying out an argument justifying torture in Guantonamo and other places - or at least a strategy for avoiding prosecution of US officials as war criminals.

When pressed on this issue by reporters at the G8 meeting, Bush was evasive and defensive. Repeatedly saying that he ordered American officials to abide by the law - ignoring the revelation (mentioned in the questions) that he had been given memos saying there might be a way to conduct torture without technically breaking any laws (judges have not yet ruled on whether the memos' assumptions are correct).

Now the Washington Post is reporting that Gen. Sanchez personally approved various forms abuse in the prisons in Iraq. Officers were allowed to select from a list of 32 methods. The approved methods included threatening dog bites, exposure to extreme heat and cold temperatures, putting prisoners on a bread and water diet.

So here is yet more evidence that there was a systematic strategy of torture approved at the highest levels.

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