Torture policies

On May 25, President Bush stood in the East Room of the White House next to Tony Blair and expressed regret that US soldiers tortured and mistreated detainees in Iraq: And I think the biggest mistake that's happened so far, at least from our country's involvement in Iraq is Abu Ghraib. We've been paying for ...

On May 25, President Bush stood in the East Room of the White House next to Tony Blair and expressed regret that US soldiers tortured and mistreated detainees in Iraq:

On May 25, President Bush stood in the East Room of the White House next to Tony Blair and expressed regret that US soldiers tortured and mistreated detainees in Iraq:

And I think the biggest mistake that's happened so far, at least from our country's involvement in Iraq is Abu Ghraib. We've been paying for that for a long period of time.

And perhaps we'll pay for more, because the Pentagon wants to lose the Geneva Conventions prohibition on "humiliating and degrading treatment" in the basic Army Field Manual. What about the McCain Amendment, you may ask, that encourages the use of the Field Manual's interrogation standard for all detainees for the precise reason that this standard will prevent degrading treatment? This new omission is ironic; the Pentagon is now suggesting that using the Field Manual as that standard is fine, as long as the prohibition on degrading treament is removed first.

More from the LA Times:

"The overall thinking," said the participant familiar with the defense debate, "is that they need the flexibility to apply cruel techniques if military necessity requires it."

and

The move to restore U.S. adherence to Article 3 was opposed by officials from Vice President Dick Cheney's office and by the Pentagon's intelligence arm, government sources said. David S. Addington, Cheney's chief of staff, and Stephen A. Cambone, Defense undersecretary for intelligence, said it would restrict the United States' ability to question detainees.

The new ommission means, however, that cruel and degrading techniques aren't just reserved for high-value interrogations, but that one of the benchmarks for treatment is removed for everyone deemed an unlawful combatant.

Carolyn O'Hara is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.

More from Foreign Policy

Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.
Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.

Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak

Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.

Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.
Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.

Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage

The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.

A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.
A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.

The West’s False Choice in Ukraine

The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.

Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi
Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi

The Masterminds

Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.