Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Above the Law
WASHINGTON - President Bush, as commander-in-chief, is not restricted by U.S. and international laws barring torture, Bush administration lawyers stated in a March 2003 memorandum.
The 56-page memo to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld cited the president's "complete authority over the conduct of war," overriding international treaties such as a global treaty banning torture, the Geneva Conventions and a U.S. federal law against torture.
"In order to respect the president's inherent constitutional authority to manage a military campaign ... (the prohibition against torture) must be construed as inapplicable to interrogations undertaken pursuant to his commander-in-chief authority," stated the memo, obtained by Reuters on Tuesday. - Yahoo
Wow. So rather than do it in secret, the Bush administration is just coming out and saying that the law doesn't apply to them. It makes you wonder how long it's going to take for Dubya to dissolve the senate, declare himself Emperor and start building the Death Star. May the force be with us, we're going to need it.
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