Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates

Bush Took 'His Sweet Time' on Torture Initiative

"Bush's executive order banning 'cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment' of prisoners - primarily terror suspects - is a welcome step, even though he has taken his sweet time taking it."

EDITORIAL

July 22, 2007

United Arab Emirates - Khaleej Times - Original Article (English)

PRESIDENT Bush's executive order banning "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" of prisoners - primarily terror suspects - is a welcome step, even though he has taken his sweet time taking it. But the order's ambiguous wording makes the assertion by CIA Director Michael Hayden that it gives the agency "legal clarity" difficult to understand.

Human rights organizations were understandably quick to point at the "inadequate" nature of the decision, particularly because it came years after the world received incontrovertible proof that "torture was authorized at the highest levels and utilized by U.S. forces."

Considering the chronology of America's tripped-up so-called war on terror, it becomes clear that Bush's latest step owes more to political face-saving than the international outcry over torture methods in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo. With Bush's ratings unlikely to improve anytime soon and as his stay in the Oval Office approaches its end, it's no surprise that the administration has resorted to such a PR exercise.

Those is especially true since the torture methods in question, attributed to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, were defended by everyone who sought to further the neocon agenda at the time. Now, even though Bush's statement says personal abuse "including sexual acts and attacks on religious beliefs" are not to be tolerated, there has yet to be a clarification of whether the CIA still has the option to use terror as an instrument, and specifically what limits the new ruling will put in place.

It is pertinent to note that torture techniques were just part of the modus operandi of the Bush camp's anti-terror war. For over half a decade, the administration has held prisoners without trial, operated secret prisons, coined the terminology "illegal combatant" to sidestep the Geneva Convention, and yet it has nothing to show for its efforts.

Now, not only is the White House open to talks it wouldn't have dreamed of granting just a few years ago, but it is also coming to realize the excesses that have contributed to its undoing.

Again, even though these steps come too late, they do need to be appreciated as a step in the right direction. In addition to relieving some of the pressure on the U.S, administration as it prepares for a less than graceful exit, it will keep the appropriate paperwork on the top of the pile for the next, which will need to hit the ground running to clear up the mess of recent years.