*Editor’s Note — This has got to be in the running for a Darwin Award.*

An embattled President George Bush sought on Saturday to shift the focus away from a host of domestic political crises by calling for the American people to back the struggle for democracy in Iraq.

At the end of a disastrous week for the White House, which culminated in the indictment and resignation of senior aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Bush and senior Republicans launched a counter-offensive in a bid to regain the political initiative.

*Editor’s Note — One fascist down… a few hundred to go.*

To start, here’s a letter from one of my Congresspeople which I thought people would find interesting.*
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Thank you for contacting me to express your support for legislation that would prohibit cruel, degrading treatment of persons in the custody of United States government. I appreciate your comments on this important issue and welcome the opportunity to respond.

Since the emergence of photographs depicting the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, many questions have been raised about the treatment of enemy combatants captured by U.S. and Coalition forces from Iraq, Afghanistan, as well as domestically. Most recently, evidence has surfaced indicating that U.S. agents in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba may have been involved in questionable activities, including the desecration of the Quran, the Islamic holy book. Also, allegations have been made that U.S. agents have facilitated the deportation and transportation of terror suspects from the U.S. to nations whose laws permit torture.

I strongly oppose the use of torture by the United States and all of our allies. United States law and international treaties to which the United States is a signatory expressly prohibit the use or facilitation of torture. To this end, I have voted repeatedly to prohibit the use federal funds to conduct or enable the torture of an individual, regardless of nationality. The Bush Administration, however, has determined that neither the Constitution nor the United Nations Convention Against Torture, as implemented by the United States, applies to aliens held overseas. I am deeply concerned by this position because I believe that it puts U.S. service personnel deployed overseas at greater risk of violent reprisals and it serves as a strong recruiting tool for international terrorists.

Recently, I joined with my colleagues in the House of Representatives to support a resolution calling for an independent investigation into the allegations of torture at Guantanamo Bay. Although I am hopeful that the House will consider this important legislation in the near future, the House Republican leadership has blocked all other efforts to investigate this situation.

On October 7th, the Senate overwhelmingly passed an amendment to the 2006 Defense Appropriations bill (H.R. 2863) introduced by Senator John McCain that explicitly bars cruel and inhumane treatment of detainees and requires interrogators to rely on regulations stipulated in the Army’s field manual. I strongly support this language because it creates clear standards of conduct that reflect the ideals our soldiers risk their lives for. Unfortunately, the White House has already threatened to veto the measure, and Vice President Cheney is actively campaigning to exempt the CIA from the provision.

Abuse of prisoners harms — not helps — us in the war on terror. Subjecting prisoners to abuse leads to bad intelligence, because under torture a detainee will tell his interrogator anything to make the pain stop. In addition, mistreatment of our prisoners endangers U.S. troops who might be captured by the enemy — if not in this war, then in the next. If allowed to occur, incidents of prisoner abuse will inevitably become public, and when they do, the cruel actions of a few will have the power to tarnish the image of our nation in the eyes of the world.

While the House version of the Defense Appropriations bill did not include a detainee provision, Senator McCain’s amendment will certainly be debated further as the House and Senate come together to craft the final appropriations bill. As this process continues, you may be assured that I will continue to support such a ban on torture and will certainly keep your comments in mind should I have the opportunity to vote on this matter in the future.

As Americans, we must hold ourselves to humane standards of treatment of prisoners — no matter how evil they may be. Terrorists certainly don’t deserve our sympathy. But this isn’t about who they are. This is about who we are, and about the values that distinguish us from our enemies.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Please feel free to do so on any issue of concern to you.