The Allen Almanac

I read an interesting point at Griper Blade this morning.

The problem is, of course, that Geneva’s a treaty. Any redefinition of what it says would be irrelevant. We can write in whatever we want, but international law will still stand. As part of Bush’s push to redefine war crimes, it’s pretty much useless anyway — it doesn’t make a damned bit of difference what the US says, a war crime is an international crime. Saddam Hussein can argue with absolute certainty that gassing the kurds was legal in Iraq.

And the rest of the world can ask, “so what?”

Which is exactly why any tampering with the GC is asking for trouble. As Colin Powell mentioned yesterday, “To redefine Common Article 3 would … put our own troops at risk.”

This is stupid and short-sighted in addition to being morally reprehensible. Tony Snow is right. We are confused. Confused about what in the heck this administration is thinking. Secret torture camps? Yep, you got me Tony. I’m confused. See, I was under the impression we lived in America. A country that is based upon the fundamental right of human dignity. Wasn’t that this one? Somewhere in the back of your mind you may have even heard these words:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Seems to me that torture gets in the way of Liberty and Happiness pretty well if not Life itself. But then again I’m confused.