Of course we are talking about torture, and the bill Bush wants to veto is the intelligence bill that passed in the House yesterday, mostly across party lines:
The White House threatened to veto the measure this week in a lengthy statement, highlighting more than 11 areas of disagreement with the bill.
The administration particularly opposes restricting the CIA to interrogation methods approved by the military in 2006. That document prohibits forcing detainees to be naked, perform sexual acts, or pose in a sexual manner; placing hoods or sacks over detainees’ heads or duct tape over their eyes; beating, shocking, or burning detainees; threatening them with military dogs; exposing them to extreme heat or cold; conducting mock executions; depriving them of food, water, or medical care; and waterboarding.
Two things come to mind when reading this. First – isn’t all this already illegal? I mean if we outlaw this stuff, what is to say they don’t come up with something new that is just a little outside these definitions? No your honor, I didn’t kill a man. Instead I expedited his journey to meet his maker, which isn’t against the law verbatim. Perhaps Congress should tell Bush that he has to follow the laws we already have or face impeachment. Oh wait – Harry and Nancy wouldn’t do that.
Now the second thing coming to mind on this is the fact that Republicans largely support torture. This bill needs to become a corner stone on the campaign trails next year. Remind people how disturbed this country was when our soldiers faced harsh treatments from their captures in Iraq. After that ask them how we can say that is wrong when we do the same thing. That is the very reason for the Geneva conventions, and Bush, along with the entire GOP, wants to ignore that, which is truly amazing for people who don’t have anything at stake in the current conflicts. Maybe Barb or Jenna should get stacked naked in a pyramid or get waterboarded. I wonder how Bush would like that then.