McCain and Obama on Torture

22 June 2008 |permalink | email article

President Bush has said repeatedly that the United States doesn’t condone torture. But the issue is certain to be argued, as in the case of waterboarding, in the fall presidential campaign.

L.A. Times columnist Timothy Rutten succinctly framed the issue: Aside from Bush/Cheney tricking Americans into going to war in Iraq, “no question is more urgent than how the White House forced the adoption of torture as state policy of the United States.”

Now, thanks to a five-part McClatchy Newspapers investigation on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba published last week – which the mainstream media and cable TV virtually ignored – we now have compelling reports faulting the Bush/Cheney regime.

The McClatchy findings concur with a new report by the group Physicians for Human Rights which described in-depth medical and psychological examinations of former detainees.

What’s stunning are remarks by retired Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba that found U.S. personnel tortured and abused detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo. 

Taguba, who led the 2004 investigation into prisoner abuse at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, accused the Bush administration of committing “war crimes.”

He is believed to be the most senior official to have accused the executive branch of authorizing and condoning such behavior.

“The commander in chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture,” Taguba added.

Presumptive presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain may not agree on everything regarding the issue, but they appear at lot closer to one another than either one does to W43.

Tortured In Vietnam, McCain must walk a finer line, balancing his own experiences and views, with loyalty to the GOP and Bush. Will he dare break with the commander in chief?

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