Bush: Legacy of S&M

There's a new must-read article out in Vanity Fair, by Professor Phillippe Sands, which might very well blow the lid off of the administration's stance of passing the torture buck. Through quite a bit of research and interviewing, Sands is able to trace the administration's embrace of torture up to the most senior level advisers during their discussions of how to deal with prisoners at Guantanamo, some of which included "perfect" legal loopholes to completely ignore any and all aspects of the Geneva Conventions.

What particularly stood out for me was the following recollection from someone who attended interrogation brainstorming sessions at Guantanamo:
Sands reports that [Lt. Colonel Diane] Beaver, who was charged with writing a document providing legal authority for harsh interrogation, confirms new details of the crucial meeting that took place at Guantánamo, and she tells Sands she “kept minutes” at other brainstorming sessions in which new techniques were discussed. The younger men would get particularly excited, she says: “You could almost see their dicks getting hard as they got new ideas.” Beaver also notes that ideas arose from other sources, such as the television show 24. Jack Bauer, the main character, had many friends at Guantánamo, says Beaver: “He gave people lots of ideas.” It was clear to Sands that Beaver believed that Washington was directly involved in the interrogations, and her account confirms what others tell Sands—that Washington’s views were being fed into the process by people physically present at Guantánamo.
Another knee-slappingly proud moment in our nation's history, for sure. Given that Bush's folks have maintained the position all along of the buck stopping further down the chain, I dare say that this article could certainly throw war crimes firmly onto the table.

Heck of a legacy, George. I hope they don't forget to add a dungeon wing to that library of yours.

[H/T to RawStory]

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