"I wouldn't join the International Criminal Court. It's a body based in The Hague where unaccountable judges and prosecutors can pull our troops or diplomats up for trial.
"And I wouldn't join it. And I understand that in certain capitals around the world that that wasn't a popular move. But it's the right move not to join a foreign court that could -- where our people could be prosecuted." - George W. Bush 09/30/04
"Men without conscience are capable of any cruelty the human mind can imagine." - Dick Cheney 01/26/05
Jules Witcover gives a good summary of recent developments in the torture debate: Gitmo debate turns up heat on Bush team Baltimore Sun 06/15/05. The fact that we even have to have a torture debate is a disgrace to the country.
Witcover genuflects to the press corps' accepted wisdom (accepted from the talking points of the Bush administration) that it's naughty to call Bush's Gulag a "gulag." But his article is solid, as are his conclusions:
The demands for closing Guantanamo are similar to those last spring calling for the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq to be torn down after disclosure of widespread abuses by U.S. guards against detainees. But the prisons are not the problem. It's the prisoners' treatment, said by Amnesty International and other watchdogs to be in violation of international law.
In a sense, the recent furor over alleged desecration of the Quran has been a sideline to the issues of physical abuse of detainees and denial of their legal rights. The administration for a time used a flawed report by Newsweek on such desecration to turn the spotlight on the news media's conduct.
But with the Senate Judiciary Committee focusing on the treatment of detainees directly, the issue of prisoner abuse is keeping the administration on the defensive. As Mr. Carter noted, such storiesundercut Mr. Bush's case for spreading the American brand of freedom and democracy elsewhere. (my emphasis)
This is a good editorial on the torture scandal, although it bizarrely agrees with the pro-torture advocates that it's Patriotically Incorrect to use the term "gulag" to describe Bush and Rummy's network of torture chambers: The Gitmo Twilight Zone San Francisco Chronicle editorial 06/11/05:
Captives are held with few rights, not even those given to conventional prisoners of war. Military tribunals designed to hear charges have sputtered and stalled under lawsuits. The Supreme Court ordered the Pentagon to allow inmates legal challenges. The FBI complained about rough tactics by interrogators. But the suspects are still locked up tightly in a remote location clearly chosen to evade public notice and legal protections available on U.S. soil.
The camp has turned from a quick-and-dirty effort to lock up dangerous suspects into a symbol of injustice and cruelty outstripped only by Abu Ghraib, another U.S.-inspired outrage.
But the prison is more than bad PR in the war on terrorism. Gitmo's existence is a radical challenge to this country's legal norms. The White House doesn't believe civil liberties apply to these suspects and it pointedly dismisses the Geneva Conventions that cover prisoners of war. Welcome to Guantanamo Bay, where there is no real rule of law.
And this paragraph is a particularly strong statement about the sad state into which today's Republican Party has slipped, when it becomes a matter of surprised comment when Republican Senators show concern over criminal, sadistic torture being practiced by the US military, apparently with high-level collaboration in the crimes:
No semblance of American justice exists at this camp. The standards of basic rights that this administration wants for the rest of the world are missing on its tightly controlled military turf. Gitmo equals hypocrisy and failure, not security and victory.
There's a chance for change. A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday will give critics and defenders a chance to examine Guantanamo. It's a minor milestone: Even a Republican-run panel is uneasy with conduct at this prison camp and wants answers.
The panel shouldn't let the Pentagon and White House off easily. It's time to reform practices at the prison or close it down. (my emphasis)
"Even a Republican ..." The fact that such a comment on this issue seems an entirely natural qualification shows how far the Republican Party has gone.
I've commented on the semantic comma-dancing over "gulag" in an earlier post.
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