According to an article by Scott Shane in the New York Times:
A bipartisan group of 200 former government officials, retired generals and religious leaders plans to issue a statement on Wednesday calling for a presidential order to outlaw some interrogation and detention practices used by the Bush administration over the last six years.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
The executive order sought by the group would be a classic application of The Golden Rule as applies to reciprocity. It would commit the United State government to using only methods that it would find acceptable if used by another country against American soldiers or civilians. It also would eliminate the CIA’s seven-year policy of secret detentions as well as prohibiting the CIA’s practice of sending terrorism suspects to countries that use torture or cruel treatment. It does not explicitly criticize recent practices, concentrating instead on establishing humane rules for the future.
Signatories include former Presidential Cabinets officials, members of the the military, FBI and CIA, and religious leaders.
Signatories of the request are predominantly, but not exclusively, Democrats. They include:
George P. Schultz, Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan
Madeleine K. Albright, Secretary of State under Bill Clinton
Warren Christopher, Secretary of State under Bill Clinton
William S. Cohen, former Republican Senator from Maine and Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton
William J. Perry, Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton
Harold Brown, Secretary of Defense under Jimmy Carter
Anthony Lake, National Security Advisor under Bill Clinton
Sandy Berger, National Security Advisor under Bill Clinton
Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor under Jimmy Carter
Signatories include more than thirty retired generals and admirals, several former CIA officials, four former World War II interrogators, and more than 100 leaders of religious congregations, divinity professors and other religious figures. Also among the group are fifteen retired veteran military, FBI and CIA interrogators who were convened in Washington on Tuesday by Human Rights First. Their joint statement on torture and other abusive methods described them as “ineffective and counterproductive.”
The action is a request for leadership and moral conduct.
“It’s a good time to step back, take a deep breath and set a standard,” Mr. Shultz said in an interview. Mr. Shultz would not criticize the practices of the Bush administration but said he believed strongly that the United States should treat terrorism suspects as it expected American prisoners to be treated. “If you have served in the armed forces, as I did in the Pacific in World War II, and you’ve been secretary of state, you understand reciprocity,” he said.
Burton Gerber, who served in the CIA from 1955 to 1995, said he opposed torture “on ethical grounds.” “It corrupts the torturer and the country that condones it,” Mr. Gerber said.
Last week’s report by Physicians for Human Rights about signs of abuse it found on eleven prisoners held by the United States included a scathing preface by retired Major General Antonio M. Taguba, who wrote an Army report on the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib in Iraq.
“There is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes,” General Taguba wrote. “The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.”
More on the PHP report and General Taguba can be found here:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
here:
http://www.juancole.com/...
and here:
http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/
The one-page statement was organized by three nonprofit groups, the Center for Victims of Torture, Evangelicals for Human Rights and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.
Douglas A. Johnson, executive director of the Center for Victims of Torture, based in Minneapolis, whose organization has counseled thousands of torture victims from 70 countries, said it was time for the United States “again to show leadership in the war against torture.” Asked whether he sought an executive order from President Bush or his successor, he replied, “I don’t think as a country we can wait for the next president.”
A White House spokesman, Tony Fratto, noted that Mr. Bush last year issued an executive order on interrogation that outlawed torture and other abuses while preserving the CIA’s right to use some coercive interrogation methods. He said Qaeda terrorists should not be treated the same way uniformed soldiers were. Of the CIA interrogation program, he added, “There’s absolutely no question that the program has prevented attacks.”
Current policies on torture were developed with President Bush’s and Vice-President Cheney’s knowledge and consent by David Addington, Alberto Gonzales, Willian Haynes, John Yoo and Timothy Flanigan in a self-described "War Council" that appears to have met frequently and in secret following 9-11.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
President Bush recently indicated that the troops were to blame for his own torture policies.
http://www.dailykos.com/...