Bush Wants Clarity On Geneva Conventions
There is a lot of ambiguity in this world. Most things are not black and white but shades of grey. There are many pressing questions like ‘what is torture?’ That’s a vague question because what is torture to one person may not be torture to another. One man might find high voltage electrodes on their testicles unpleasant, others may not. It is philisophical questions similar to this that has sparked debate between the President and members of Congress.
On Friday, September 15th at the Rose Garden of the White House President Bush stood firm. He said “this debate is occurring because of the Supreme Court’s ruling that said that we must conduct ourselves under the Common Article III of the Geneva Convention. And that Common Article III says that there will be no outrages upon human dignity. It’s very vague. What does that mean, “outrages upon human dignity”? That’s a statement that is wide open to interpretation. And what I’m proposing is that there be clarity in the law so that our professionals will have no doubt that that which they are doing is legal. You know, it’s — and so the piece of legislation I sent up there provides our professionals that which is needed to go forward.”
President Bush’s entire press conference regarding this matter can be found on the White House’s official website.
But it’s no biggie. Bush just wants to change the Geneva Conventions so the CIA can conduct their interogations in a “legal” manner. So if a CIA agent wants to pry information from a possible terrorist he doesn’t have to wonder ‘Can I shock this man’s balls?’ Of course he can, come on, is that really “an outrage upon human dignity?”
Of course there are some critics like Senator John McCain who served 5 years in a Vietnamese prison camp and does not agree with President Bush. John McCain has a very black and white view of torture and human dignity. He firmly believes that exposing a man to hypothermia and splashing him with water is torture and inhumane. Meanwhile, there are old men called the Polar Bears who do that sort of thing for fun. Pretty grey stuff Mr. McCain.
Comments Off