« I'm In Better Company Than I Thought
Main
Just Trying to Be Helpful »
August 9, 2006
If You're Going to Do the Crime, You Must Be Willing to Do the Time
This may be true for ordinary criminals but perhaps not so true for torturers. According to the Washington Post,
The Bush administration has drafted amendments to a war crimes law that would eliminate the risk of prosecution for political appointees, CIA officers and former military personnel for humiliating or degrading war prisoners, according to U.S. officials and a copy of the amendments.
Why would our government want to make these changes?
"People have gotten worried, thinking that it's quite likely they might be under a microscope," said a U.S. official.
But there are those who know the proposed changes are just wrong.
No criminal prosecutions have been brought under the War Crimes Act, which Congress passed in 1996 and expanded in 1997. But 10 experts on the laws of war, who reviewed a draft of the amendments at the request of The Washington Post, said the changes could affect how those involved in detainee matters act and how other nations view Washington's respect for its treaty obligations."This removal of [any] reference to humiliating and degrading treatment will be perceived by experts and probably allies as 'rewriting' " the Geneva Conventions, said retired Army Lt. Col. Geoffrey S. Corn, who was recently chief of the war law branch of the Army's Office of the Judge Advocate General. Others said the changes could affect how foreigners treat U.S. soldiers.
It is well past time for Americans who want to retake the moral high ground to rise up and stop those who seek to rewrite laws they have already broken.
Read the whole article and read the last two paragraphs on the second page twice
Posted by Duane Smith at August 9, 2006 9:27 PM | Read more on Current Events |
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.telecomtally.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1811
Comments
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.
Send me an email if it is important.