Posted on 07/20/2007 11:16:18 AM PDT by Anti-Hillary
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush signed an executive order Friday spelling out new interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects that bar cruel and inhumane treatment, humiliation or denigration of prisoners' religious beliefs.
The White House declined to say whether the CIA currently has a detention and interrogation program, but said if it did, it must adhere to the guidelines outlined in the executive order. The order targets captured al-Qaida terrorists who have information on attack plans or the whereabouts of the group's senior leaders.
"Last September, the president explained how the CIA's program had disrupted attacks and saved lives, and that it must continue on a sound legal footing," White House press secretary Tony Snow said. "The president has insisted on clear legal standards so that CIA officers involved in this essential work are not placed in jeopardy for doing their job - and keeping America safe from attacks."
The executive order was the result of legislation Bush signed in October that authorized military trials of terrorism suspects, eliminated some of the rights defendants are usually guaranteed under U.S. law, and authorized continued harsh interrogations of terror suspects.
The Supreme Court had ruled in June 2006 that trying detainees in military tribunals violated U.S. and international law, so Bush urged Congress to change the law. He also insisted that the law authorize CIA agents to use tough methods to interrogate suspected terrorists.
The legislation said the president can "interpret the meaning and application" of international standards for prisoner treatment, a provision intended to allow him to authorize aggressive interrogation methods that might otherwise be seen as illegal by international courts.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush signed an executive order Friday spelling out new interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects that bar cruel and inhumane treatment, humiliation or denigration of prisoners' religious beliefs.
The White House declined to say whether the CIA currently has a detention and interrogation program, but said if it did, it must adhere to the guidelines outlined in the executive order. The order targets captured al-Qaida terrorists who have information on attack plans or the whereabouts of the group's senior leaders.
He’s just throwing the liberal dogs a bone.
“The legislation said the president can “interpret the meaning and application” of international standards for prisoner treatment, a provision intended to allow him to authorize aggressive interrogation methods that might otherwise be seen as illegal by international courts.”
But if the new standard is that something that is merely "humiliating" or "denigrating" is illegal, doesn't that place interrogating officers in even greater legal jeopardy?
The terms "humiliating" and "denigrating" have no fixed meaning. How can any interrogating officer know what this means, and how can a military lawyer with confidence advise an interrogating officer what exactly this means?
Bush Alters Rules for Interrogations
Any connnection with his colonoscopy tomorrow is purely coincidental.
Absolute fukin genius.
Let's communicate to our enemies that you never, ever have anything to fear from us because if we catch you we will do nothing that hurts or offends you.
We’re at war...everyone play nice.
A kinder, gentler war on terrorism.
I guess this replaces the old “Dead or Alive” doctrine from right after 9/11.
This “Breaking News” is a whole lot of crap. President Bush already banned the cruel and unusual treatment but he still reserves the rights to interpret what that means which is exactly what the story says except that he put it on a piece of paper this time.
A softer, fluffier dispute with a small percentage of religion of peace ministers.
The creation of rules for the capture of anything is by the Leg. not by an Executive Order[Executive].
‘make rules concerning captures on land and water;’
WHAT!!! No more panties on heads?
Holy George Goes to War. Holy George Does the Border. Holy George Goes to the mosque. We could do a series here.
I have long been suspect of what the US was alleged to be doing in so far as “torture” was concerned. That is, every suggested “torture” that we might be using dated back to the 1940s, or even earlier.
Name another technology that has strongly advanced since the 1940s, but people are still using the 1940s technology.
In other words, we have an amazing arsenal of techniques to obtain information quickly and efficiently. Our pharmacopeia alone has hundreds of drugs that could be highly effective in getting information.
So why would we use “waterboarding”, or things like that?
Even more than that, we could be actively brainwashing terrorists to turn them to our side. We could send them out to locate their old bosses and kill, or just locate them. By now we could have a small army of ex-terrorists working for us, rooting out terrorist leaders around the world.
And *that* is at least 40 year old technology.
Since the 1980, we have done amazing things with microelectronics. So why not use them? Far more effective than sap gloves.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. We have the technology, so why not use it?
.
humiliation or denigration of prisoners’ religious beliefs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.