Not Naming Names But ...

In my heart of hearts, I do not believe that this administration can last until 2008 without major policy changes and major behavioral and attitudinal adjustments. NO ONE in the world is buying our rhetoric, our cause or our practices and pretty soon we will end up being held accountable in some form or fashion.

"The George W. Bush administration's policies on indefinite detention and ”extraordinary rendition” are coming under heavy fire from a number of institutions and organizations, including the United Nations, Amnesty International, and members of the U.S. Congress itself.

”The prohibition of torture is non-negotiable,” said U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, held annually on Jun. 26.

Without naming the United States, he added: ”That includes an absolute ban on transferring anybody to another jurisdiction where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person is at risk of torture.”

Currently, the U.S. administration is pursuing a policy of what it calls ”extraordinary rendition,” which involves seizing suspects and taking them to a third country without court approval.

Human rights groups have documented a number of cases in which U.S. authorities secretly transferred individuals to countries where they were held without charge and routinely tortured."

...

”Torture does not stop terror,” it said. ”Torture is terror.”