The Bush Administration gets a whole lotta flack over…well, many things (rightfully so) and hitting the news often is the belief that the United States CIA torture detainees. Although Bush and his team deny these allegations, memos that contradict such statements were made public by the American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained the three CIA-related documents under Freedom of Information Act requests.

According to a secret Justice Department memo released Thursday, in 2002, the Bush Administration told the CIA that its interrogators working abroad would not violate U.S. prohibitions against torture unless they “have the specific intent to inflict severe pain or suffering.”
Reported by CNN, the memo also stated that the interrogator’s “good faith” and honest belief” that the interrogation will not cause such suffering protects the interrogator.

Included in another memo is the “advise” that “the waterboard” or simulated drowning, does “not violate the Torture Statute.” And statements by President Bush and a Supreme Court ruling “raise possible concerns about the future U.S. judicial review of the [interrogation] Program.”

“These documents supply further evidence, if any were needed, that the Justice Department authorized the CIA to torture prisoners in its custody,” said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU National Security Project.

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