Bush and Torture of Prisoners of War

W. is now fighting with his own party over his need to torture people beyond the constraints of the Geneva Convention. Once again, the narrow mindedness of this President is showing. Doesn't he realize the Geneva Convention also protects Americans abroad? If he gets his way, all the rules are tossed out and the horrible tortures of anything goes prior to World War II return. Once again President Bush demonstrates his short-term mentality...(and I cannot tell you how much it hurts me to use those two words together in a sentence "President" and "Bush"...)

But don't take my word for it...listen to John McCain, Arizona Senator and Presidential hopeful, who was a prisoner of war during Vietnam, suffering torturing at the hands of his captors. He is unwilling to back down on the issue of prisoner interrogations, vehemently disagreeing with the Bush White House.

"His decision to take a stand on this issue is not based on a political calculation,” said Eileen McMenamin, his spokeswoman. “He believes this is the right thing to do to protect American servicemen and women, and our values.”

Mr McCain has received backing from Colin Powell, the secretary of state during the first four years of the Bush administration.

In a statement that stunned the world and shocked the White House, Powell stated in a letter to McCain: “The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism. To redefine Common Article 3 [of the Geneva conventions] would add to those doubts. Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk,”

Senator McCain's position is that, "We are not saying the CIA cannot carry out a programme,” “We are saying it cannot amend the Geneva conventions, which calls for the kind of treatment of prisoners that fall under Common Article 3.”

Naturally, going against common sense, Bush vowed to “resist any bill...” that does not carry forward his wishes to re-write the Geneva Convention to allow torture.

This is no surprise. What does Bush know about being in the military...let alone a war.