Bush White House Sought To Soften Treaty On 'Enforced Disappearances'

Washington Post:

From 2003 to 2006, the Bush administration quietly tried to relax the draft language of a treaty meant to bar and punish "enforced disappearances" so that those overseeing the CIA's secret prison system would not be criminally prosecuted under its provisions, according to former officials and hundreds of pages of documents recently declassified by the State Department.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[VirginiaJeff]

We are in serious need of a 9/11-type commission to investigate everything the Bush administration did in the name of "security."

[JulieSA]

Obama is continuing rendition and and offshore prisons.

[ArborialBiped]

Fine. I still second the call for a truth commission, and for restoration of Constitutional principles and human rights into American policy.

Unlike you, I am more concerned with principle than with merely scoring cheap political points against "the other team".

[HumanityEqualsLaw]

Is anyone surprised? They tried to circumvent laws,REALLY? What would it take to hold an American president (or at least vice president) accountable for serious breaches of international and domestic laws? If they get away with their neocon fascist world domination blood-for-money/oil agenda, it is a dangerous precedent with a clear message of exceptionalism, which is the main reason for the rest of world loathing the US.

[FeloniusMonk]

The funny thing is that if some other country took advantage of this and grabbed American citizens here who have been indicted elsewhere, like Spain, they'd be calling for the special ops guys to go and save them from such bar bari ty.

[ArborialBiped]

Yes. "American Exceptionalism" once meant that we set a higher standard for ourselves in terms of liberty and human rights.

In the Cheney-Bush Era, it came to mean "We can do whatever we want, whenever we want -- so screw you, and the Constitution and any treaties we signed, too."

[JulieSA]

Clinton-Gore started the rendition practice.

[k1dork]

"Huffington Post pre-moderates comments on our blog posts and post-moderates comments on news stories. We never censor comments based on political or ideological point of view."

I have been attempting to post THE SAME comment since this article was posted. I started posting when there were only 3 posts. My posts still have not gone through.

My posts meet the supposed guidelines set by the Huffington Post. There is really no reason for my responses NOT to be posted.

I think you do a disservice to the majority of the people who post here who share similar views, by NOT allowing different ideas to be posted.

[ArborialBiped]

The HP censorship policy is, as far as I can tell, non-ideological. Obviously, left-, right-wing and centrist stuff gets through, of widely-varying intellectual depth and quality.

It is, however, irrational in theory and incompetently executed. Based on crude keyword-flagging algorithms and with time delays that serve to utterly ruin the flow of conversations. Somehow the worst possible combination of automated and human-in-the-loop.

I've tried inquiring about it -- no response, no accountability. Sad, really.

[Pupadup4oBama]

I honestly believe it is due to fr!volous fl@g ging.
Too many folks fl@g just for d!s@greeing with someone. If we just used it for those really 0bscene remarks....I'm sure we'd see a lessening of the m0deration on reasonable comments.

[k1dork]

I'll try to post this again.

Could someone please explain to me why the left seems to be against all of Bush's efforts to combat fundamental religious, murderous, homophobic extremists?

It really seems to me that many on the left are only capable of recognizing religious extremists when it comes to Christian conservatives.

We are dealing with Islamic extremists, who hate western values, murder homosexuals, and throw acid on little girls who want to go to school.

Sure, the Bush administration probably made some mistakes, but it's not like they were specifically targeting average citizens. They were going after the people who they thought were associated with such religious fanatics.

[JulieSA]

Well said.

[AddyGmom]

Not worth responding to as evidenced by sajulie's praise.

[Palemoon]

Show me one example of where he tried to combat fundamental religious, murderous, homophobic extremists.

We should start by cleaning house of them right here at home. I'm tired of doctors like Mr. Tiller being gunned down in their own Church in front of the entire congregation. I'm tired of the deeply religious Christian wacko's like the KKK continuing to burn crosses in peoples front yards to this very day. I'm tired of unAmerican activities that goes against our very US Constitution, such as passing of proposition 8 and denying everyone equal rights under the law as required by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights treaty we signed.

[ArborialBiped]

The USA had enshrined and championed certain fundamental principles of human rights and the rule of law -- in our Constitution and Bill of Rights, in our signed treaties, and in 200 years of honorable military and legal traditions.

These principles were not written, "to be enforced only when convenient", or "unless someone knocks down a couple of our buildings".

People like you don't even trust the current President enough to extend health insurance to the poor, or to tell high-school students about the value of hard work and education. Yet you want to give a President (or Vice-President, or a mercenary on a 6-month CIA contract) the ability to decide which captured Pushtun tribesman or US citizen on a plane is a "terrorist", and to kidnap, tort.ure and detain him indefinitely without ever seeing a lawyer or judge?!

Tell me how this is in any way "Christian" or "American" or "civilized"?

[thromulese]

The worst president EVER. No amount of time will ever changer that sad fact.

[Pupadup4oBama]

Actually, your avatar was the w0rst president ever. This guy was just a cl0wn.

[thromulese]

OK

one enabled the other. one hired the other.

they were the worst administration ever.

is that better?

[Pilate]

He left us a legacy, all right.

[AddyGmom]

Yep All 'RIGHT' pretty well says it all.

[bluguy8]

and why is this a surprise or news ? Its the Bush empire--what else would you expect . Crime at its best

[nofog]

SOON God will make us all disappear from this earth
However, where I'm going is not a place for people like you Bush

You ruled on God's earth as if you were God
I am a witness, I will be there for your judgement day

Everything is Finite and so are you TWIG MAN

[benjaminblue]

Why are Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney and the rest of their corrupt cabal not yet incarcerated? How much more factual evidence must be produced before these criminals are recognized as the criminals they are and treated accordingly?

[k1dork]

Could someone PLEASE explain to me why every attempt made by the Bush administration to combat terrorists it met with some kind of condemnation by the left?

There may have been MISTAKES, but these aren't average American citizens we're discussing. We're talking about TERRORISTS and RELIGIOUS EXTREMISTS.

It seems that people on the left are only capable of recognizing crazy, religious people when they are Christian conservatives.

These TERRORISTS we are dealing with are FUNDAMENTALIST, RELIGIOUS ZEALOTS, WHO MURDER HOMOSEXUALS AND THROW ACID ON LITTLE GIRLS WHO ONLY WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL.

Why should the average American be concerned with them being interrogated harshly, if they weren't seriously injured and the interrogations were done to get information to save lives?

And no, it isn't a scientific fact that inhanced interrogation does not work.

[Passenger57]

k1dork,I'll explain it as soon as someone explains why every thing President Obama DOES is met with criticism. Not wearing a tie? Michelle wearing shorts? Giving a speech to schoolkids? Going on vacation (not for a month)?
The people captured and interrogated weren't ALL extremists and terrorists - that was the main problem.
Those "mistakes" - did they involve imprisoning people for years without charging them? Letting some go after holding them for years? Torturing people with no information to give? Dead prisoners whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Be concerned about "harsh interrogations" when it's an American soldier being "interrogated" and his captors use what Bush did as precedent.
Do you need science to tell you that waterboarding will make the person say whatever you want so they'll stop being waterboraded?
Tell you what - YOU volunteer to get waterboarded 183 times, and we'll see what YOU confess to.

[PlanoBlue]

Koooooooool - _bushcrimefamily_ wanted to put us in the same catagory as Russia, China, Iran, Colombia, Sri Lanka

Surprise surprise surprise

[cardineau]

We just wish we were in the same category as Russia, China and Iran. Have you noticed that they have not started any illegal wars lately.

[PlanoBlue]

Now that you mention it..............

[brandnewstuff]

Please Listen to Bruce Fein and Bob Barr

http://fora.tv/2007/07/31/Bob_Barr_American_Freedom_Agenda#fullprogram

What the illegal domestic spying program DID and Violated FISA and The National Security Act and How we need a full blown commission for the destruction of domestic homeland and global damages

[Lutfi]

Mr. President Bush, please tell me what happened to you ?, I mean why why why

[Pupadup4oBama]

He was an !ns3cure frat boy who wanted to please his daddy. Problem was, he STILL wasn't bright enough to get it right. He liked people who were like him and who agreed with him.

[JulieSA]

Eh. Getting your psychology from Oliver Stone movies isn't productive. Obama wrote an entire book about bis daddy issues. We all have issues.

[Altoids]

I have no moral qualms with our government secretly kidnapping terrorists, wherever they may be. Remember 9/11?

[SirRealDeal]

So what is the difference between this and what happened under S.t.alin

[Altoids]

Stalin kidnapped people out of paranoia, we're kidnapping them because they want to kill us.

[monk2000]

I have qualms with our government thinking they are above the laws and practices that we are held to. They could have kidnapped anyone protestor and legally held and tortured them under the Bush/Cheney dibacle. This is awful and using 911 to justify FACISM is ridiculous.

[cardineau]

According to the World Health Org, in the 11 years after the first desert war, our sanctions and daily bombing of Iraq, directly caused the death of 500,000 Iraqi children. Bin Laden warned the US was to suffer consequences if it did not stop using Saudi air bases from which to terrorize and kill all of these people. The consequences turned out to be 911. 3000 US dead versus 500,000 Iraqi dead ... I think we got off light.

[ArborialBiped]

And we know that every captured and tort.ured detainee is a "terrorist" exactly HOW, in the absence of any legal process, press coverage, Red Cross visits, etc.?

On your say-so? Or Cheney's?

If you spoke a different language, wore a different hat, you'd be very happy as a Taliban Mullah.

[ArborialBiped]

You people are amazing:

- Obama wants to extend healthcare to the poor, and he's a "f@scist".

- Cheney-Bush orders extra-judicial kidnappings and tort.ure, and breaks human rights treaties signed by Pres. Reagan, and you're fine with that.

Move back to the 12th Century.

[Altoids]

Please point me to where I called Obama a f@scist_.