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  • Monday, June 05, 2006

     

    Their Satanic Majesties Request

    Don't I have anything better to do with my time? And WHY is Keef the only one untouched? And why is Condi in the center? More to the point, why is it so poorly done, particularly Poutin' George in the back right?

    Perhaps it was sparked by the news I heard earlier today that the Pentagon is putting in their manuals that certain aspects of the Geneva Conventions will be ignored. No secret backroom stuff, they're setting it out as policy in black and white, in print. Here is the blurb from Democracy Now!:
    Pentagon Makes It Official Policy to Ignore Geneva Conventions
    The Los Angeles Times is reporting the Pentagon has decided to make it official policy to ignore a key tenet of the Geneva Convention that explicitly bans "humiliating and degrading treatment” of detainees. According to the paper, the Pentagon’s new Army Field Manual on interrogation marks a further and potentially permanent shift away from strict adherence to international human rights standards. For decades, it had been the official policy of the U.S. military to follow the minimum standards for treating all detainees as laid out in the Geneva Convention. But, in 2002, Bush suspended portions of the Geneva Convention for accused members of Al Qaeda and Taliban. Critics said the Pentagon’s latest decision would violate a broadly supported anti-torture measure advanced by Sen. John McCain to ban torture and cruel treatment. The Los Angeles Times reports the move to officially ignore parts of the Geneva Convention was supported by Vice President Dick Cheney's office and by the Pentagon's intelligence arm. Sources said Cheney’s chief of staff David Addington and Stephen Cambone, the Defense undersecretary for intelligence, claimed the Geneva Conventions restrict the United States' ability to question detainees.
    You can also check out the USAToday.com blog entry which has links to a variety of related things.

    Yeah, this'll work: "Laws? We don' need no stinkin' rule of law! We are the Law! Take those pansy international laws and make the weak countries follow them!"

    I like to think cynicism is my most attractive feature. Well, after my codpiece, of course.



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