Tuesday, June 8, 2004

Pentagon finds Bush not bound by torture laws: report?

A Pentagon report has concluded, [war criminal], President George W Bush was not bound by laws prohibiting torture and United States agents who might torture prisoners at his direction could not be prosecuted by the Justice Department, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

The findings were part of a classified report on interrogation methods prepared for Defence, [War], Secretary Donald Rumsfeld by top civilian and uniformed military lawyers who also consulted with other agencies, the newspaper said.

The report was compiled after commanders at Guantanamo Bay, complained in late 2002 that they were not getting enough information from prisoners through conventional methods, according to the WSJ.

The document outlined US laws and international treaties forbidding torture, and why those restrictions might be overcome by considerations for national security or legal technicalities.

The WSJ said it reviewed a March 6, 2003, draft of the report.

The draft argues that because nothing is more important than "obtaining intelligence vital to the protection of untold thousands of American citizens," normal strictures on torture might not apply".

The report contended the President has the authority as commander-in-chief to approve almost any physical or psychological actions during interrogation, up to and including torture.

It is not known if President Bush has ever seen the report, the newspaper said.

The Bush administration has said it supports the Geneva Conventions and humane treatment for detainees. [?]

According to the newspaper, a Pentagon official said some military lawyers objected to some of the proposed interrogation methods but that they ultimately signed on to the final report in April 2003, shortly after the war in Iraq began.

The newspaper said it had not seen the full final report, but that people familiar with it say there were few substantial changes in legal analysis between the draft and final versions.

By Just Us posted 8 June 04

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