Report: Bush, Rumsfeld Responsible for Detainee Abuse

clipped from www.voanews.com A U.S. Senate report has concluded that Bush administration policies led directly to the abuse of detainees in U.S. custody in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The bipartisan report, issued Thursday by the Senate Armed Forces Committee, says the authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques conveyed the message that it was "okay" to mistreat detainees in U.S. custody. The report says harsh interrogation tactics, such as waterboarding, began to be used after President George Bush determined that the Geneva Conventions - the minimum standards for humane treatment - did not apply to al-Qaida or Taliban suspects. Donald Rumsfeld (file) The report also says former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques at the Guantanomo Bay detention center, was a direct cause of abusive techniques, including forced nudity, stress positions and the use of military working dogs, at detention centers in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The article tells us:

The Bush administration, which has not yet commented on the report, has repeatedly said detainees in U.S. custody are treated humanely, and that because they are enemy combatants, and not prisoners-of-war, they are not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions.

That never made any sense to me; the Bush argument was always "We can abuse detainess because Geneva doesn't apply, but we're not." Why make the argument that the Geneva Conventions don't apply if you're not planning to violate them? Why even bring it up?

We now have proof of the freakin' obvious...