Closing in on the rottenest apple

Dictators declare their own law for themselves


Bush gave a pathetic press conference on Monday.

Yesterday, in a news release the ACLU describes to which rotten apple the trail of US torture planning leads:

A document released for the first time today by the American Civil Liberties Union suggests that President Bush issued an Executive Order authorizing the use of inhumane interrogation methods against detainees in Iraq. Also released by the ACLU today are a slew of other records including a December 2003 FBI e-mail that characterizes methods used by the Defense Department as "torture" and a June 2004 "Urgent Report" to the Director of the FBI that raises concerns that abuse of detainees is being covered up.

From his press conference:

PRESIDENT BUSH: I think it's important to let the world know that we fully understand our obligations in a society that honors rule of law to do that. But I also have an obligation to protect the American people, to make sure we understand the nature of the people that we hold, whether or not there's possible intelligence we can gather from them that we could then use to protect us. So we'll continue to work the issue hard.

So, Mr. President, why the coverup? If "inhumane interrogation methods" protect America, why not just say so?

The truth is that the Bush Administration feels that it can make its own law, or be lawless, as it alone chooses. This, to Bush, constitutes "the rule of law". The president is not accountable, his decisions not "reviewable". These are characteristics of dictatorship.

And the premise that this torture will "protect the American people" is false. It invites retaliation by new-formed enemies.