Republicans Anonymous

In the spirit of the Easter season, George Bush is "washing his hands" of responsibility for the torture suffered by those unfortunate enough to be "extraordinarily rendered" to countries where torturing prisoners is commonplace:

CIA's Assurances On Transferred Suspects Doubted
Prisoners Say Countries Break No-Torture Pledges
By Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 17, 2005; Page A01

The system the CIA relies on to ensure that the suspected terrorists it transfers to other countries will not be tortured has been ineffective and virtually impossible to monitor, according to current and former intelligence officers and lawyers, as well as counterterrorism officials who have participated in or reviewed the practice.

To comply with anti-torture laws that bar sending people to countries where they are likely to be tortured, the CIA's office of general counsel requires a verbal assurance from each nation that detainees will be treated humanely, according to several recently retired CIA officials familiar with such transfers, known as renditions.

In "the post-9/11 world, the United States must make sure we protect our people and our friends from attack," (President Bush) said at a news conference."And one way to do so is to arrest people and send them back to their country of origin with the promise that they won't be tortured. That's the promise we receive. This country does not believe in torture..."

Just as Pontius Pilate knew delivering Jesus to the mob meant torture, President Bush knows these "verbal assurances" are worthless. The Washington Post quoted two CIA officials; one characterized these assurances as "a farce" and another noted: "It's beyond (a farce.) It's widely understood that interrogation practices that would be illegal in the U.S. are being used." The Washington Post article also contained this choice quote:

An Arab diplomat, whose country is actively engaged in counterterrorism operations and shares intelligence with the CIA, said it is unrealistic to believe the CIA really wants to follow up on the assurances. "It would be stupid to keep track of them because then you would know what's going on," he said. "It's really more like 'Don't ask, don't tell.' "

Long story short: President Bush has knowingly and willingly outsourced torture, and believes that if he "washes his hands" like Pontius Pilate, he cannot be held responsible for the resulting torture.

Odd belief for a Christian - but Mr. Bush has always been more of a "Kristian-with-a-'K.'" ("Krab-with-a-'K'" is a cheap imitation of real crab meat. Kristians are cheap imitations of Christians - they mouth the words when convenient but don't buy into Jesus' actual philosophy. This blog uses these terms to distinguish between Christians like Habitat for Humanity and Kristians like Jerry Falwell.)