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22 Retired Military Officers Ask Bush to Ban Torture

By Jeralyn, Section Terror Detainees
Posted on Fri Jan 20, 2006 at 04:56:57 AM EST
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The ruckus over Bush's signing statement attached to the McCain anti-torture amendment continues. 22 high-ranking former military officers have written a letter to President Bush asking him to enforce the amendment.

When U.S. President George W. Bush in December signed the law banning cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of detainees championed by Sen. John McCain R-Ariz., he did so with a caveat: As commander-in-chief, he can waive the limits when he deems necessary for national security.

The generals and admirals who signed the letter Thursday, including a former four-star commander of Central Command, said the issue is less about the detainees as it is about the values that the military holds dear.

"Clear and unambiguous implementation will help ensure that our brave men and women in uniform will never again feel that to prevail against the enemy they must risk their honor or the values they fight to protect," the letter states.

As Rear. Adm. John Hutson, a former Navy lawyer puts it:

These rules we have purported so long were not designed to protect the enemy from us, but us from the enemy. The difference between us and the enemy is how we treat the enemy."

Huston also took a swipe at former Guantanamo Commander Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who took the 5th to avoid testifying in a court-martial case of a soldier charged with abusing detainees (background here)

That's not the way it's done. You stand up, testify honestly, take it like a man," Hutson said.

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    • 22 Retired Military Officers Ask Bush to Ban Torture | 9 comments (9 topical)
    Re: 22 Retired Military Officers Ask Bush to Ban T (none / 0) (#1)
    by soccerdad on Fri Jan 20, 2006 at 03:53:52 AM EST
    yeah, like Bush/Cheney will listen to them.

    Re: 22 Retired Military Officers Ask Bush to Ban T (none / 0) (#2)
    by john horse on Fri Jan 20, 2006 at 04:02:54 AM EST
    The Bush administration's dishonorable policies are now threatening the honor and values of our military. Its policy in support of torture, its invasion of a soverign nation without honest justification, and its abrogration of the Geneva Convention and international law have cost this country the high moral ground.

    Re: 22 Retired Military Officers Ask Bush to Ban T (none / 0) (#3)
    by scarshapedstar on Fri Jan 20, 2006 at 05:46:05 AM EST
    Are there no Bush supporters who find it odd that he refers to himself as "commander-in-chief" far more often than "president"?

    Re: 22 Retired Military Officers Ask Bush to Ban T (none / 0) (#4)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 20, 2006 at 05:55:20 AM EST
    What do people who actually served, like these 22 retired officers, know about it? It seems the only ones condoning the use of torture are the ones who would never find themselves in the position to be tortured. Like Dick "Defferment" Cheney and "Texas Fly Boy" Bush. Why is that?

    Re: 22 Retired Military Officers Ask Bush to Ban T (none / 0) (#5)
    by desertswine on Fri Jan 20, 2006 at 07:38:52 AM EST
    Groups of people (scientists, diplomats, etc)have sent letters to this administration before, all to no avail. They don't listen.

    Re: 22 Retired Military Officers Ask Bush to Ban T (none / 0) (#6)
    by Repack Rider on Fri Jan 20, 2006 at 08:09:35 AM EST
    Trolls, please explain to us why these military men hate America and love the terrorists. I seem to be incapable of figuring it out.

    Re: 22 Retired Military Officers Ask Bush to Ban T (none / 0) (#7)
    by scarshapedstar on Fri Jan 20, 2006 at 09:30:38 AM EST
    Repack, they don't have their talking points ready yet. Wait for the new Swiftboat book to be released next week, and they'll have all the lies you could ever care to read.

    Re: 22 Retired Military Officers Ask Bush to Ban T (none / 0) (#8)
    by cpinva on Fri Jan 20, 2006 at 10:14:50 AM EST
    i understand, from super secret sources, that everyone who ever served in the u.s. military, and/or was decorated for bravery in combat, lied to get those awards. shhhhhhhhh, don't tell anyone!

    Re: 22 Retired Military Officers Ask Bush to Ban T (none / 0) (#9)
    by Rational on Fri Jan 20, 2006 at 11:11:45 AM EST
    I would argue that the issue these people bring up is the difference between soldiers and merc's. Soldiers (by extension sailors, marines etc) are/should be legitamate servants of a national entity. They are often the face of that entity. If that entity is to publicly and frequently promote the rule of law its servants MUST follow the law. Torture is a violation of the Geneva rules, the UCMJ and any number of international treaties. Torture is a violation of the law. If we are to expect the military to be soldiers and not mercs we must demand that they obey the law. Not that I expect this junta to listen. They have, how did cheney put, "other things to do"

    22 Retired Military Officers Ask Bush to Ban Torture | 9 comments (9 topical)