Aug. 11, 2006 - 00:04 MDT

ADMISSION OF GUILT ?

There is an article in this morning's (Aug. 10th) Rocky Mountain News by Pete Yost of the Associated Press that made me laugh, until frighteningly it makes me wonder, to what lengths will this administration go before enough people catch on and make Congress or the Supreme Court put the brakes on such "goings on." Herewith quoted in full:

WAR CRIMES PROTECTION SOUGHT

WASHINGTON -- "The Bush administration drafted amendments to the War Crimes Act that would retroactively protect policymakers from possible criminal charges for authorizing any humiliating and degrading treatment of detainees, according to lawyers who have seen the proposal."

"The move by the administration is the latest effort to deal with treatment of those taken into custody in the war on terror."

"At issue are interrogations carried out by the CIA, and the degree to which harsh tactics such as water-boarding were authorized by administration officials. A separate law, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, applies to the military."

" The Washington Post first reported on the War crimes Act amendments Wednesday."

"One section of the draft would outlaw torture and inhuman or cruel treatment, but it does not contain prohibitions from Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions against "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment."

"A copy of the section of the draft was obtained by The Associated Press."

"Another section would apply the legislation retroactively, according to two lawyers who have seen the contents of the section and who spoke on condition of anonymity because their sources did not authorize them to release the information."

"One of the two attorneys said that the draft is in the revision stage but that the administration seems intent on pushing forward the draft's major points in Congress after Labor Day."

"I think what this bill can do is in effect IMMUNIZE PAST CRIMES." "That's why it is so dangerous," said a third attorney, Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice."

"Fidell said the initiative is "not just protection of political appointees, but also CIA personnel who led interrogations."

"Extreme interrogation practices have been a flash point for criticism of the administration."

"Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA's executive director, said that "President Bush is looking to limit the War crimes Act through legislation," now that the Supreme Court has embraced Article 3 of the Geneva Convention. In June , the court ruled that Bush's plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violates Article 3."

++++++++++++++

Makes my gorge rise, it does.

Seems as if our High Pooh Bahs want an enacted excuse for their wrongdoings. Looks as if they wish to treat anyone under their detention however they please and have an excuse for doing so.

Guess I could say more but the foam is messing up my keyboard. But, this bit of legislation, isn't it a total ADMISSION OF GUILT ? . . . . . . . . . .

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