Eschewing Geneva... Why can't the U.S. conform...?

why does the u.s. have this thing about not conforming to accepted international standards, particularly the geneva conventions...? after all, we've been observing them since 1949... from the international criminal court to the metric system, we want one set of rules for us and another set for everybody else...

The Bush administration is embroiled in a sharp internal debate over whether a new set of Defense Department standards for handling terror suspects should adopt language from the Geneva Conventions prohibiting "cruel," "humiliating" and "degrading" treatment, administration officials say.

Advocates of that approach, who include some Defense and State Department officials and senior military lawyers, contend that moving the military's detention policies closer to international law would prevent further abuses and build support overseas for the fight against Islamic extremists, officials said.

Their opponents, who include aides to Vice President Dick Cheney and some senior Pentagon officials, have argued strongly that the proposed language is vague, would tie the government's hands in combating terrorists and still would not satisfy America's critics, officials said.

i totally fail to see how the humane treatment of prisoners outlined in geneva, vague though it may be, "ties the government's hands..."

meanwhile, we're still busy telling the rest of the world how it should behave...

Echoing international concern about the arrest and suspected abuse of an opposition leader in Uzbekistan, two American senators introduced a resolution on Tuesday calling on the Uzbek government to ensure that the detained politician is treated fairly and in accordance with his human rights.

our hypocrisy is on display daily around the world...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet