Amnesty condemns U.S. over torture

Amnesty condemns U.S. over torture:
"LONDON (Reuters) - The United States has failed to guard against torture and inhuman behaviour since launching its 'war on terror' after September 11, 2001, Amnesty International has said in a report just days before the U.S. election.
The rights group called on President George W. Bush and his Democratic challenger John Kerry to promise to take prompt action to address the issue head on if elected on November 2.
It condemned Bush's response to the 2001 attacks on U.S. cities, saying it had resulted in an 'iconography of torture, cruelty and degradation'.
Amnesty's report accused Washington of stepping onto a 'well-trodden path of violating basic rights in the name of national security or 'military necessity'.'
'The war mentality the government has adopted has not been matched with a commitment to the laws of war and it has discarded fundamental human rights principles along the way,' it said.
At best, Washington was guilty of setting conditions for torture and cruel treatment by lowering safeguards and failing to respond adequately to allegations of abuse, it said.
At worst, it had authorised interrogation techniques which flouted its international obligation to reject torture and ill-treatment under any circumstances."

Hmmm. Now, didn't the president claim (after his initial claims of the existence of WMDs in Iraq and his followup claims that Hussein and binLaden were all buddy-buddy failed to hold water) that we invaded Iraq to free the Iraqi people from an oppressive regime which used force and torture to realize its objectives?

Ladies and gentlemen, your tax dollars at work.

See, this is why I find myself humming the Canadian national anthem at odd moments.