So you doubted the White House bonehead, Rummy boy, chief crony Cheney and the rest of
\nthe gang had dirty hands? You believed the use of torture on Iraqi prisoners was the
\nlow-level notion of “a few bad apples” and not the systematic plan of higher-ups? You didn’t (or
\ncouldn’t) believe the rule of law as we’ve known it is being corrupted by authoritarian zealots?
\n<\/P>
\n
Well, The Wall Street Journal had a frontpage exclusive Monday that demolishes those pretty
\nlittle myths. It began: “Bush administration lawyers contended last year that the president wasn’t
\nbound by laws prohibiting torture and that government agents who might torture prisoners at his
\ndirection couldn’t be prosecuted by the Justice Department.”<\/P>
\n
WSJ reporter Jess Bravin uncovered a classified report — drafted just two weeks
\nbefore the Iraq invasion commenced — arguing that “the president, despite domestic and
\ninternational laws constraining the use of torture, has the authority as commander in chief to
\napprove almost any physical or psychological actions during interrogation, up to and including
\ntorture,”
It’s too bad the WSJ is not available online except by subscription. In the
\nsecond graf, the story revealed that “[t]he advice was part of a classified report on interrogation
\nmethods prepared for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld after commanders at Guantanamo Bay,
\nCuba, complained in late 2002 that with conventional methods they weren’t getting enough
\ninformation from prisoners.”<\/P>
\n
The third graf continued:<\/P>
\n
The report outlined U.S. laws and international treaties forbidding torture, and
\nwhy those restrictions might be overcome by national-security considerations or legal
\ntechnicalities. In a March 6, 2003, draft of the report reviewed by The Wall Street Journal,
\npassages were deleted as was an attachment listing specific interrogation techniques and whether
\nMr. Rumsfeld himself or other officials must grant permission before they could be used. The
\ncomplete draft document was classified “secret” by Mr. Rumsfeld and scheduled for
\ndeclassification in 2013.<\/BLOCKQUOTE>
\n