Navy Warned Pentagon on Torture
Two years before the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, the Navy's general counsel warned the Pentagon that its wink-and-nod policies on torture would invite abuse, reports The New Yorker.Navy Counsel Issued Warning On Torture
AP:
The Navy’s general counsel warned Pentagon officials two years before the Abu Ghraib prison scandal that circumventing international agreements on torture and detainees’ treatment would invite abuse, according to a published report.
Legal theories granting the president the right to authorize abuse despite the Geneva Conventions were unlawful, dangerous and erroneous, then-General Counsel Alberto J. Mora advised officials in a secret memo. The 22-page document was obtained by the New Yorker for an article in its Feb. 27 issue.
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.
At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.
Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.
Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.
Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.
Donate now.
Wounds of War
20 years after the Iraq War prison scandal, victims are still in court and Washington is still trying to forget.
Wounds of War
Two decades after being brutally tortured, three Iraqis have brought a lawsuit against the U.S. military contractors responsible.
Editorial Cartoons
George Orwell warned that a “lack of precision” in language can destabilize entire societies. America's 45th president is living proof.
American intelligence agencies are the nation’s enemy from within and the Praetorian Guard of sinister forces.
Aggressive policing, mass incarceration and inhumane detention facilities are products of overseas empire—imperial chickens come home to roost.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.