"Prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated. Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited, and will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention. In particular, no prisoner of war may be subjected to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are not justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the prisoner concerned and carried out in his interest.
Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity."
The United States is great in part because we are champions of civil liberties. Our citizens are protected from cruel and unusual punishment by our system of checks and balances. When the U.S. ventures abroad, it should behave in the same manner it does at home; that is our best export.
When we break our own laws and behave as a thug all Americans are diminished, the stature of our country is tarnished and our goals muddied. When we behave like the forces of so-called evil we make our citizens and the citizens of the world less safe.
As a nation we have condemned the practice when carried out by other nations and, according to the New York Times, prosecuted it as a war crime after World War II. If Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey is illiterate then he might have a basis for being unable to determine if torture is illegal. He is not. Any reasoned thinker can determine that waterboarding is torture and thus illegal.
We don't need just any reasoned thinker for attorney general. We have already experienced the results of less-than-topnotch legal thinking in that position.
If Mukasey thinks waterboarding is akin to a ride at an amusement park, let him demonstrate it by being waterboarded and then see if he comes to his senses. We have had more than enough obfuscation and torture of the language. We need an attorney general who knows right from wrong. Mukasey has demonstrated that he doesn't and is therefore unfit.
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