Analysis of the President's Executive order on Torture

The Washington Post OP-ED piece on this topic was alarming to say the least. The article was written by two supporters of this President. They support his use of "warrantless wiretaps" and have on most actions in the war on terror. However, this time they say the President has gone too far! Can you believe it? Some familiar and supporting of the Presidents actions see Bush going to far in his latest Executive order on the use of "torture". When I heard about the order I thought and wrote that it was kind of late to put out this Executive Order as 5 years have passed in this war and it is like "closing the barn door after the horse has escaped." But you must read this OP-ED from the Washington Post of July 26, 2007 for yourself before I comment anymore. You can click here to read the full article.

Here's an excerpt:

This is not just about avoiding "torture." The article (Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention) expressly prohibits "at any time and in any place whatsoever" any acts of "violence to life and person" or "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment."

Last Friday, the White House issued an executive order attempting to "interpret" Common Article 3 with respect to a controversial CIA interrogation program. The order declares that the CIA program "fully complies with the obligations of the United States under Common Article 3," provided that its interrogation techniques do not violate existing federal statutes (prohibiting such things as torture, mutilation or maiming) and do not constitute "willful and outrageous acts of personal abuse done for the purpose of humiliating or degrading the individual in a manner so serious that any reasonable person, considering the circumstances, would deem the acts to be beyond the bounds of human decency."

In other words, as long as the intent of the abuse is to gather intelligence or to prevent future attacks, and the abuse is not "done for the purpose of humiliating or degrading the individual" -- even if that is an inevitable consequence -- the president has given the CIA carte blanche to engage in "willful and outrageous acts of personal abuse."

You see my friends, it really is worse than you can imagine. And unless the Congress takes action to impeach this President and Vice President, we are sanctioning this behavior for future Presidents as a precedent. That is why the Congress, Rep. Conyers and others must have the courage to act, even if theirs is a lone voice.