Why cannot the Bush administration answer a simple question with regard to its prisoner detention policies in the war on terror? Jackson Diehl tried to get an answer from Alberto Gonzales. He cannot get one. Money quote:
During a meeting at The Post late last month I asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a pretty simple question: Is it the policy of the Bush administration not to subject the foreign prisoners it is holding to “cruel, inhuman and degrading” treatment? The phrase I quoted refers to abuse falling just short of torture. It is banned by an international treaty negotiated by the Reagan administration and ratified a decade ago by the Senate.
Gonzales started to reply, then hesitated. Then he said he wasn’t sure, and would have to get back to me with an answer.
The answer, however, is obvious. This administration practices, condones and supports a policy that allows for “cruel, inhuman and degrading” treatment of detainees in its custody. They just won’t admit it. Why? The answer to that question tells you a great deal about what this administration is fundamentally about.
The Dish 