ACLU links Bush to torture policy

[JohnnyRingo]

"A few bad apples indeed"

FBI E-Mail Refers to Presidential Order Authorizing Inhumane Interrogation Techniques

December 20, 2004

NEW YORK -- A document released for the first time today by the American Civil Liberties Union suggests that President Bush issued an Executive Order authorizing the use of inhumane interrogation methods against detainees in Iraq. Also released by the ACLU today are a slew of other records including a December 2003 FBI e-mail that characterizes methods used by the Defense Department as "torture" and a June 2004 "Urgent Report" to the Director of the FBI that raises concerns that abuse of detainees is being covered up.

"These documents raise grave questions about where the blame for widespread detainee abuse ultimately rests," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "Top government officials can no longer hide from public scrutiny by pointing the finger at a few low-ranking soldiers."

The documents were obtained after the ACLU and other public interest organizations filed a lawsuit against the government for failing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request.

The two-page e-mail that references an Executive Order states that the President directly authorized interrogation techniques including sleep deprivation, stress positions, the use of military dogs, and "sensory deprivation through the use of hoods, etc." The ACLU is urging the White House to confirm or deny the existence of such an order and immediately to release the order if it exists. The FBI e-mail, which was sent in May 2004 from "On Scene Commander--Baghdad" to a handful of senior FBI officials, notes that the FBI has prohibited its agents from employing the techniques that the President is said to have authorized.

<more here>
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17216&c=206

[AlCzervik]

1. I was sure this story wouldn't get any media coverage

and then my local newspaper went and surprised me today by running it right on the front page.

[JohnnyRingo]

3. Yep as usual, I just realized that I'm on to something that everyone

already knew.

It shocks me sometimes how rabidly people like Bill O'Rielly attack the ACLU and other watchdog groups, preferring to get their info, presumably, from Scott McClellan.

[rkc3]

2. The ACLU is a communist organization bent on destroying democracy.

Don't you listen to Rush Limpballs?

[anti-fundie]

4. And who said the Inquisition was only in the history books?

Dark Ages, anyone?