Bush Administration Reverses Itself on Detainee Rights

Earlier I referred to the Bush Administration to abide by Geneva Conventions as "better late than never." Well, it turns out it's really just plain never- if the President gets his way.

The NY Times reports, "A day after saying that terror suspects had a right to protections under the Geneva Conventions, the Bush administration said Wednesday that it wanted Congress to pass legislation that would limit the rights granted to detainees. "

The administration wants to define the "rights" of detainees narrowly.

Since the Supreme Court rulings limiting the President's power to call for indefinite detention and military tribunals without due process rights, the President's advisers and attorneys have seized upon the part of the most recent ruling that indicated that the Congress could make some decisions regarding what sorts of trials may take place.

So, rather than abide by international regulations and common decency, our President is still seeking to practice 'American exceptionalism.'

If only he could understand that his persistence on this path is undermining not only the perception of America around the world, but actually putting our troops in greater jeopardy.

The learning curve for this President on this matter is steep. Very steep.

GP