The Torture Memos, Ten Years Later

"Our journey to Abu Ghraib began in earnest with a single document--written and signed without the knowledge of the american people."

A recently published article from The Atlantic takes a look back at the series of Bush administration memos which authorized and directed the use of 'enhanced interrogation techniques' against detainees in the War on Terror. Ten years ago, on February 7th, 2002, President Bush signed a memo arguing that the U.S. was not bound by its obligations under the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War. According to Bush administration officials, 'the new paradigm' of the War on Terror '[rendered] obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and [rendered] quaint some of its provisions requiring that captured enemy be afforded such things as commissary privileges.' The memos represent an 'extraordinary departure from American legal policy' and the danger of allowing political leadership and the executive branch to make serious policy changes without consulting the American people or Congress. The article ties the aftermath of the memos to the recent U.S. drone program authorized by the Obama administration and its complete lack of legal justification. Read the full article from The Atlantic.