Friday, January 07, 2005



Another non-denial denial

Alberto Gonzales, Bush's nominee for Attorney-General, on whether he supports torture:

"I am deeply committed to ensuring that the US government complies with all its legal obligations... [including] of course the Geneva Conventions whenever they apply."

Note the hedges - "legal obligations", "whenever they apply". Coming from a man who has argued that anything which does not cause "death, organ failure, or serious impairment of body functions" is not torture and is therefore not illegal [PDF - large], and who is on record as saying that the Geneva Conventions don't apply to suspected terrorists [PDF - large], this isn't actually a denial at all. Instead, he's saying that he is "deeply committed to ensuring that the US government continues to do exactly what it is doing for as long as it wants to". Given that what it is doing has been described by the Red Cross as "tantamount to torture", and in some cases is taken straight from the Spanish Inquisition, I think it can be said that Gonzales continues to support torture. But for some reason, the media dares not say so.

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