Secret memo reveals Bush was given humane, legal alternative to harsh interrogation
Published: May 18, 2009
Updated 6 months ago
The Bush administration was given clear and unequivocal advice encouraging a detainee interrogation system that followed humane practices that adhered to US and international law, a previously secret memo reveals.
A detailed memorandum authored by a counselor to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2005 also reveals that the Bush Administration was offered a comprehensive alternative to its use of torture techniques. The author, Rice deputy Philip Zelikow (along with then-acting deputy secretary of defense Gordon England), asserted that the adoption of a clear and humane approach to interrogation would pay dividends for the US in the years to come.
The memo was published Thursday at Secrecy News, a blog written by secrecy expert Steven Aftergood. It can be read here in PDF form.
Zelikow acknowledged an argument frequently promulgated by former Vice President Dick Cheney — that the interrogation of detainees could save thousands of lives. But he argued that humane treatment was the only right course for the United States.
“Some [terrorist suspects] have information that may save lives, perhaps even thousands of lives,” Zelikow wrote. “They do not fit readily into any existing system of criminal or military justice. And, while balancing the danger these individuals may present, they must be treated humanely, consistent with our values and the values of the free world.”
Zelikow and England argued — conscious of the techniques that the Bush administration had already adopted and in an apparent snipe at then-approved standards endorsing torture — that such a program must “pass muster for years to come under American law and relevant standards of international law,” and “give workable clear and unambiguous guidelines for the professional and humane conduct expected from those who will operate the system.”
And, they said, whether a prisoner was caught in any number of countries abroad, “the treatment of a prisoner should be built on a foundation of common values and basic standards - a system that is reasonably interoperable.”
Zelikow recently found himself in the news after alleging that the White House sought to round up and destroy all copies of another memo he wrote that year, which argued explicitly that the Bush administration’s interrogation techniques were illegal. According to Zelikow, the “White House attempted to collect and destroy all copies of my memo.” In a recent article, Zelikow said his “supposition at the time” was that the office of Vice President Dick Cheney was behind the push.
In the memo released Thursday, the two Bush officials said they believed that the US should effectively give terrorist detainees the rights enumerated under the Geneva Conventions.
In all capital letters, they wrote: “WE ARE NOT SAYING THAT THESE DETAINEES ARE NECESSARILY ENTITLED TO THIS STATUS. TO BE CLEAR: WE ARE GIVING THEM A TEMPORARY STATUS THEY DO NOT DESERVE. BUT WE ARE NOT DOING THIS FOR THEM. WE ARE DOING IT FOR US.”
“This interim approach also is one that civilian courts are more likely to understand,” they continued. “This interim approach is also one that Americans and the world are more likely to understand and accept as reasonable.”
Both also argued for the temporary holding of detainees as opposed to their long-term imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay. They proposed an alternative system whereby individuals would be questioned when information is most current.
“In every country, individuals are held temporarily, away from public scrutiny, often just after they are apprehended, in order to conduct human but effective questioning and gather information while it is most current,” they wrote.
“As part of this interim system, and as the number of detainees goes down,” they continued, “the US will no longer need to maintain a detention facility in Guantanamo. That facility will close and we expect to transfer remaining detainees to a facility in the United States.”
Perhaps most telling was a line penned midway through the memo — a prognostication that has proven eerily true.
“If the US acts as if it has something to hide,” the officials wrote, “Americans and the world will assume that it does.”
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The issue, as is coming out now, is that the Bush/Cheney cabal wanted “evidence” that Saddam Hussein was somehow attached to 9/11. It did not matter if this “evidence” was real or not thus torture. Torture, as show by the Chinese, is a viable alternative to get someone to lie and provide the false information you want.
So when are we going to hear what Zelikow thinks about tortured information being used as a basis for AlQaeda operational details in the 9/11 Commission Report -or maybe he doesn’t know -the story was virtually un-reported or, as in Raw Story’s case, it’s headline (May 13th, 2009) was pulled and struck from the archive list -the story still exists, but only if you happened to see it and bookmark it in the short time it was up. Self-censorship lives on -even at Raw Story.
If you see a news article on Raw Story that calls into question the “official” 9/11 conspiracy theory -you better bookmark it fast, cause the headline will get pulled within a couple hours -see also the article introducing the scientific paper analyzing explosive particles in the dust cloud that resulted from the WTC tower collapses -this headline as pulled within a few hours of being put up.
The United States has lost all Moral ground to make assessments about right and wrong. The UN and all other international treaty organizations should sanction the USA by dropping them to the level of such other torture countries as the Sudan, Chile and Uganda.
What Americans think is immaterial - This should be dealt with on an international stage and the American government should cooperate in all possible ways. It doesn’t matter who is found guilty and who is found innocent, it only matters that the proper steps are taken to bring all information to light and those who committed crimes are punished for them. It shouldn’t matter what country, what party or what job they are/were in, they should be punished! Even President Obama if he is keeping information form those who need it to proper pursue these charges.
CONVINCING THE DUMBED-DOWN THAT WATERBOARDING IS ILLEGAL IS LIKE TRYING TO TEACH A LATTER DAY REPUBLICAN ABOUT EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY OR ECOLOGY
WATERBOARDING IS ILLEGAL
http://lawreview.wustl.edu/slip-opinions/waterboarding-is-illegal/
1. Torture Act
2. War Crimes Act
3. Prohibition on Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of Persons Under Custody or Control of the United States Government
4. Additional Prohibition on Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
“The United States has enacted statutes prohibiting torture and cruel or inhuman treatment. It is these statutes which make waterboarding illegal. The four principal statutes which Congress has adopted to implement the provisions of the foregoing treaties are the Torture Act, the War Crimes Act,and the laws entitled “Prohibition on Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of Persons Under Custody or Control of the United States Government” and “Additional Prohibition on Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.” The first two statutes are criminal laws while the latter two statutes extend civil rights to any person in the custody of the United States anywhere in the world.”
how long until the richt-wing tries to pin this on Pelosi - that Bush ignored this advice. I can hear it now “it is all Pelosi’s fault”. Don’t let them change the question to Pelosi, the question is Why did Bush and Cheney torture and why did they commit war crimes?
Yesterday it was new Rumsfeld revelations, today this, last week torture photos. Stuff is going to continue to trickle out about the crimes of the Bush administration for years. These guys are trying to cut off any investigation, but the alternative may be worse: A day-by-day, week-by-week barrage of cuts and slashes that keep the wounds fresh, while slowly draining every drop of credibility from the GOP corpus. It’s fitting, of course - foiled again by their own incompetence.
It seems by the time this memo came out, well established patterns had already manifested.
I can hear Bush and Cheney. “Who the hell does he think he is?” That one’s a given.
Condi Rice, tho, I’d really like to hear how she responded to this memo. I’m guessing she scrolled to the bottom, saw her name wasn’t there and exclaimed “whew!”
Of course Bush knew he had more humane options than waterboarding. It didn’t take a memo from Zelikow to know that. The FBI agents that first interogated Zubaydah using standard legal methods said that he was cooperating…giving information. The kind that saves americans lives!! He wasn’t giving the kind of info that Bush/Cheney wanted tho….a connection between Iraq and Al Queda….hence they started waterboarding him! The FBI said this is when Zubaydah quit cooperating!! So this crap that Cheney keeps spouting is actually just the opposite of what they really did. They weren’t trying to save american lives by torturing. They were already getting that level of cooperation without torturing. In fact, they put politics ahead of national security by using torture to end cooperation, all because they wanted him to confess to a non-existing tie to Iraq in order to justify the illegal war. They were trying to save their own political ass!! Its disgusting, and these war criminals should be arrested immediately, held without bail, and put on trial!!
Chimpy McFlightsuit ignored EVERYTHING that didn’t fit he and Dickhead Cheney’s fucked up ideology.
They IGNORED Richard Clarke when he debriefed them Al Qaeda;
They IGNORED experts who repeatedly told them NOT to invade Iraq;
They IGNORED a memo entitled, ‘BIN LADEN DETERMINED TO ATTACK INSIDE U.S.”, which memo clearly stated ‘WITH PLANES’.
They IGNORED military experts who said we needed more than a few troops in Afganistan AND Iraq.
The larger question should be, what DIDN’T Chimpy McFlightsuit ignore?
The headline is silly. Bush, like any President, “ignores” legal advice all the time, taking some and rejecting others. I wouldn’t be surprised if Obama hasn’t already “ignored” some.
OK….I’m not making any accusations here, I’m just saying…
Has anybody confirmed the authenticity of this document????
I doubt its authenticity. If this guy, Zelikow, is an educated man he writes like a third grader. A My 13 year old kid could write a more intelligent dissertation than this!!
And what the hell is “sensitive but unclassified”?
The guy who testified before the Senate does not sound like the guy who wrote the “memo”. Either this thing was written by a stoner college kid from Indiana who wanted to prank his buddies and get some internet notoriety OR, this Zelikow guy is really bad at writing. Did he not realize that this memorandum would be read by the President?? A man whose reading list includes such titles as…….. “My Pet Goat?”………..
Oh, nevermind…
The fact that this is even being debated is asinine. The US led the way in seeking punishment for those who tortured. Laws were written by, and with, the US so anyone who used torture could be sought out and brought to trial. Now the US is arguing against the very laws they helped put into place. Cheney was not interested in soft interrogation, and none of the others were either for they easily jumped on board the wagon to make torture legal. According to sources Bush was a terror as a kid, a teen and an adult with sadistic tendencies. All who backed torture as a legal right must be charged–From Bush all the way down the line to the lowly grunt. Those who knew it was illegal didn’t comply and were punished for it. Those who went along were rewarded and now they all need to pay for their crimes. It’s that simple.
Just read about the nuremberg trials and the whole reason for them. Waging war on a country for empire building,creating a scene using dead polish people to say they attacked us first, preimtive war on innocents , Attacking activist who oppose as unpatrioticSound familiar..We had our own little hitler..