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Bush uses veto for the wrong reasons again
Coming from him, the decision to allow use of waterboarding is not entirely shocking.
- Gulf News
- Published: 00:32 March 10, 2008
Torture can never be justified. In this day and age, we expect it to be completely outlawed and banned by all countries, including non-democracies. The use of torture against detainees or prisoners must be anathema to any country that not only calls itself a democracy but also preaches democracy to other states. Against this backdrop, the latest news of US President George W. Bush vetoing a bill that would ban the CIA from using harsh interrogation methods, such as waterboarding (making a suspect believe he is drowning) to break terrorist suspects comes as a major disappointment; it is a blow to democratic values and principles. But Bush's move is not entirely shocking.
Late last year we learned that in 2005, the CIA destroyed hundreds of hours of videotapes showing the "interrogation" of suspected terrorists.
The UN Convention on torture defines it as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person..." in order to get information.
Waterboarding, one of the several controversial methods during interrogation, is unlawful under international law. The use of this technique always causes pain and suffering - and therefore constitutes torture. The US bill, which was overwhelmingly backed in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and which Bush vetoed, would have banned inhumane and degrading treatment of detainees by Americans.
That Bush has decided to use his presidential power to keep the CIA's "enhanced" techniques of torture in use might prove to be costly for a president most known for his "anti-terror" policies. It would have been wise - not to mention humane - for him to have let the popular bill pass. Instead, his latest veto undermines the very values his country stands for.
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