Well, now we have a huge update on this story. According to the Washington Post:
CRAWFORD, Tex., April 11 -- President Bush said Friday that he was aware his top national security advisers had discussed the details of harsh interrogation tactics to be used on detainees.
Bush also said in an interview with ABC News that he approved of the meetings, which were held as the CIA began to prepare for a secret interrogation program that included waterboarding, or simulated drowning, and other coercive techniques.
"Well, we started to connect the dots, in order to protect the American people" by learning what various detainees knew, Bush said in the interview at the presidential ranch here. "And yes, I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved."
The remarks underscore the extent to which the top officials were directly involved in setting the controversial interrogation policies.
Bush suggested in the interview that no one should be surprised that his senior advisers, including Vice President Cheney, would discuss details of the interrogation program. "I told the country we did that," Bush said. "And I also told them it was legal. We had legal opinions that enabled us to do it."
President Bush knew about the Principles' meetings. He knew that they were discussing torture techniques, and more importantly, he approved of the use of torture against al Qaeda prisoners. What is even more amazing is that Bush claims it is legal for the U.S. to conduct torture sessions on al Qaeda prisoners because Bush said so. It is a rather circular argument that goes back to the almost dictatorial powers that Bush claims to have because he is the Commander-in-Chief, fighting an endless Great War on Terror, and that Congress gave him these dictatorial powers after the September 11th attacks. There is only one law here, and that law is whatever President Bush wants the law to be. And with Congress closely divided between the Democrats and Republicans, there is no way for Congress to reassert itself, through either investigating the Bush administration's criminal activities through subpoena power, or through impeachment of the president and his top advisers. It is bad enough for the president to knowingly approve of such illegal activities that his men are doing on his behalf. But when President Bush publicly states that he approves of such illegal activities that his men are engaging in, it shows just how much contempt Bush has for the law.
Finally, there is one disturbing detail in this WaPost story:
The Post reported that the methods discussed included open-handed slapping, the threat of live burial and waterboarding. The threat of live burial was rejected, according to an official familiar with the meetings.
To think that the threat of live burial was even discussed in these meetings is even shocking to me. If burying a person alive--or even threatening to bury a person alive-- is not torture, then what is torture? And did President Bush even know that this technique was discussed by his top officials? The details coming out from these White House torture meetings make the Bush administration seem like a tin-pot, bloodthirsty, banana republic dictatorship. It just keeps getting worst.
I can't wait for this nightmare to end.
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