No More Waterboarding!

The House of Representatives in a near party-line vote (222-199) has passed a measure that would require the CIA to adhere to the same methods of interrogation of prisoners as used by the Military and would require them to adhere to the Geneva convention. The Senate must now pass a bill before it goes to President George "We don't Torture" Bush, who has threatened a veto.
The belief that torture and dehumanizing interrogation techniques will protect us (Ala Jack Bauer) is rooted in fear and stands contrary to the American ideal. We talk about holding others to a high standard of justice and let our own nation fall below international standards. This is simply not acceptable.
But perhaps Drew is write in a comment he made to an earlier posting on waterboarding:

I am getting the sense that the real issue here is that the Bush does not view the suspected terrorist as a fully human being. This makes the definition of torture technically not apply to them in that sense. It is kind of like the clear discrimination of African Americans under Jim Crow. It was justified because they were not defined as fully human of full citizens. I think this has to do with Bush's understanding that even suspected terrorists are intrinsically evil and this I think is why they are less than human.So in this view of what is fully human, Bush would not think it's torture. Something I think worth considering.

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