In January, 2002, when US President George W. Bush suspended the Geneva Convention’s application to his troops, legal counsel from the State Department urged White House counsel to alert the president that he could eventually be prosecuted for “war crimes.” Now that the UN Human Rights Commission is meeting in Geneva, the news has taken on a particular resonance. In an article entitled Outsourcing Torture by US journalist, Jane Mayer, published in the New Yorker magazine, she explains how, in overriding international agreements regarding the treatment of prisoners of war, including the UN’s Convention against Torture, the White House has given the green light to all the atrocities that took place in the Pentagon’s interrogation camps. In a memorandum dated January 11, 2002, and directed to John C. Yoo, President George W. Bush’s legal counsel on this subject, State Department counsel William Taft IV urged Yoo and Alberto González, the current Attorney General, to warn the President that by suspending the application of the Geneva Convention to its troops’ treatment of prisoners, “he would be seen as a war criminal by the rest of the world.” Bush had announced his decision three days before. In the previously unreleased 40-page memo, Taft argued that Yoo’s analysis relative to this subject was “seriously flawed.” Taft told Yoo that his contention that the President could disregard the Geneva Convention was “untenable,” “incorrect” and “confused.” Taft also rejected the argument that Afghanistan was a “failed State” and for that reason, was not covered by the treaties. State Department counsel afterwards warned Yoo “that if the United States took the war on terrorism outside the Geneva Conventions, not only could U.S. soldiers be denied the protections of the Conventions - and therefore be prosecuted for crimes, including murder - but President Bush himself could be accused of a ‘grave breach’ (of those Conventions) by other countries and be accused of war crimes.” Taft sent a copy of his letter to Alberto González to make sure that Bush was informed. Taft’s advice had no influence on Bush, who maintained his position. [more]
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