Bush torture program news

Keeping you au courant with the latest developments in Bush's attempt to legalize torture (forhim, that is).... We track the latest events in George Bush's ongoing legal justification for torturing anyone he deems a threat whether there is proof of threatiness or not.

Bush administration lawyers, fighting a claim of torture by a Guantanamo Bay detainee, yesterday argued that the new law that bans cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody does not apply to people held at the military prison.

...U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler said in a hearing yesterday that she found allegations of aggressive U.S. military tactics used to break the detainee hunger strike "extremely disturbing" and possibly against U.S. and international law. But Justice Department lawyers argued that even if the tactics were considered in violation of McCain's language, detainees at Guantanamo would have no recourse to challenge them in court.

...Thomas Wilner, a lawyer representing several detainees at Guantanamo, agreed that the law cannot be enforced. "This is what Guantanamo was about to begin with, a place to keep detainees out of the U.S. precisely so they can say they can't go to court," Wilner said.

...Guantanamo Bay officials deny that the tactics [nasal tube feeding] constitute torture. They wrote in sworn statements that they are necessary efforts to ensure detainee health.