CIA awaits the right to torture

CIA waits to find out what interrogation techniques it can use.

Right now, a conflict within the Bush regime has left the CIA without the permission to use the torturous techniques that were deemed necessary last fall. For months, the CIA has languished, waiting for the White House to approve rules that would give agents more freedom than military interrogators in questioning those suspected of terrorism. We don't even know if the CIA has any suspects in custody--now that the Bush administration has authorized the new secrecy and suspension of civil rights we've seen since 9/11. The White House claims that the secret prisons are empty, and the CIA's preferred torture techniques remain classified and not for public consumption. But the techniques may include exposure to extreme temperatures and sleep deprivation. A draft of an executive order giving wide guidelines for CIA interrogators was rejected by the State Department because it legalized practices that violate the Geneva Conventions. Can you believe that? Six months ago, Bush signed a bill to authorize secret CIA interrogations. Now the CIA says it needs to know exactly where it stands on the use of techniques one might deem torture. The questioning of high-level terrorism suspects is one of the most widely criticized policies of the Bush regime's response to 9/11. Bush only acknowledged the secret CIA prisons last September when he said that the last 14 inmates would be sent to Guantanamo Bay. Do you trust this man and this administration to decide how to treat suspects of terrorism?