Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Bush Unhesitatingly Defends Administration Policy of Torture

President Bush said that those who question what his administration is doing at Guantánamo Bay and Abu Ghraib are "slandering America" when asked about this by Adam Bolton, political editor of Britain's Sky News. The president was responding to Bolton's statement that many who say some of the Bush administration's torture and detention policies represent "the opposite of freedom."

This comes at a time when the Supreme Court recently ruled that the "terrorism suspects" at Guantánamo Bay have a right to seek their release in federal court. In its ruling the Supreme Court stated that Bush's policy compromise "the Constitution's guarantee of liberty."

The Bush administration had defended the use of "water boarding," which is a form of simulated drowning, as an interrogation technique despite the widespread opposition to the use of this technique. Earlier this year, the administration had finally admitted that the use of water boarding could be used in so-called "extreme circumstances." This came after years of denying that the detainees at Guantánamo were being tortured.

President Bush and his administration continue to act as they see fit in defiance of public opinion and an even when the Supreme Court rules against them. This has been the policy of this administration in its response to defending this country against terrorism. The fight against terrorism is of the utmost national importance, but it should not be used as a means for violating the law and illegally reducing the freedom of the citizens of this country, as well as international laws to which this nation ascribes.

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