salon.com — When he announced last week that he would be transferring 14 alleged al-Qaida terrorists from secret prisons and that the "tough" methods employed by the CIA had pried loose valuable intelligence from the suspects," President Bush also unveiled a bill to set up military tribunals to try the prisoners. This bill is more than meets the eye.
Sep 12, 2006 View in Crawl 4
philoviveroSep 13, 2006
You need to register to read the article. I hope it's good.
dbSep 13, 2006Submitter
Salon lets you read their stories if you click through the advertising. This article is worth it. I think you can run into problems if you've got AdBlock running, which sucks, but you could selectively disable it for Salon to read their content.
gtinessSep 13, 2006
you know, if you actually read the geneva conventions...it doesn't apply to these jokers anyway. we govern ourselves according to the conventions as a matter of choice not law.I think we should continue to do so but, keep in mind, by doing so, we retain "the moral high road"...you'll get mixed opinions on the validity of information gained through rough techniques. there are times, when lives are at stake, I believe they're justified. I know that's not popular in certain circles but, according to international law, it's legal. Sorry.
scionalteraSep 13, 2006
The problem is that it's ineffective to make a list of specific things that are allowed and things that are not, because somebody will invent a new method or slightly alter an existing method. Then they can say "well, it wasn't on the list!" and get off scot free. The Geneva Conventions are intentionally vague about what's allowed and what isn't in order to keep it effective as a ban against anything that is inhumane... even things that the original authors did not anticipate. Bush's new bill with its specific list will become less effective as new forms of torture are invented and any forms that were omitted (purposefully or not). The argument that it is more specific or detailed is tempting and looks good at first glance, but ultimately it's far less effective.
scionalteraSep 13, 2006
It doesn't require registration. You just have to click through a couple ads to get to the story. If you think it's spam, mark it as spam.
dcoolidgeSep 13, 2006
There has to be a point where people say, "Hey wait a minute. That doesn't make sense. This guy is an idiot!" When that happens is when people start to think on their own. Stop believing what people tell you and look at the empirical evidence.
Closed AccountSep 13, 2006
@zeligYou shouldn't try to fight evil with evil. Two wrongs don't make a right, an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, and all those cliches. But the truth is these cliches are repeated because they've so far held up.Torturing someone because of suspected "terrorist acts" (which is pretty nebulous anyway) doesn't make you any better than the one you're torturing.
mrkamikazeSep 13, 2006
I like how they attache credibility to a "Group of Military officers" like they represent the military. 9-10 Officers opinions hell 100 officers of any branch is nothing worth noting considering the shear amount of retired personnel in America. Frankly when i was in the ARMY; out of all the officers i came across only one was worth a damn that's because he was prior enlisted and a Ranger to boot. Officers are politicians in uniform, generally clueless about how the military is run and rarely do any of the fighting. That's why you don't see groups of senior enlisted shooting their mouth off.
bs101Sep 13, 2006
actually, what I have read says Jimmy Carter is going down in history as the worst president and that is because Reagan had to clean up his mess when he got into office and then some. Carter had no balls, and Reagon did.
epitaphicSep 14, 2006
@veersiteWatch the Power of NIghtmares in its entirety (<a class="user" href="http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares).">http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares).</a> Its better to look at history from a factual point of view than an emotional one. I think in many ways, most americans that havent ever lived outside of the US for any length of time or even just ever left the US on vacation, haven't a hope's chance to look at the world objectively. Leave the emotional stuff behind man. There isn't and there never has been any clear cut black or white issue as the US administration leads you to believe.