In a memo obtained by the New York Times, Romney's Advisers wrote Mitt a memo advising him to bring back torture.
Romney's Advisers wrote that Romney should Pledge to one of two options:
Option One:
Governor Romney could pledge that upon taking office, he will rescind and replace President Obama' s Executive Order restricting government interrogators to the Army Field Manual.
or
Option Two
Romney to pledge only that upon taking office, he will conduct a comprehensive review of interrogation policy under Presidents Bush and Obama. He could promise that if this process leads to the identification of techniques that would constitute a viable and legal enhanced interrogation program, he will rescind the Obama Executive Order and approve such a program.
Romney's Advisers go on to say which "Option" (one or two) they think Romney should "Pledge" to commit to:
The Subcommittee recommends the first option. Governor Romney has recognized for years that the sounder policy outcome is the revival of the enhanced interrogation program.
On page 1 of the Pro-Torture Memo, Romney's Advisers give a brief history of the Bush/Cheney Torture days:
March 2002, the Bush Administration established a program, operated by the Central Intelligence Agency, to interrogate outside the United States a small number of detained terrorist leaders and operatives.
In 2005, Congress passed the Detainee Treatment Act.
This law required the Defense Department to interrogate detainees in accordance with the Army Field Manual. It also prohibited government agencies, including the CIA, from subjecting detainees to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment" prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments.
Then, Romney's Advisers describe how and why Bush Administration were, under the laws at the time,
war criminals.
In June 2006. the Supreme Court held in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention was applicable to the conflict with Al Qaeda.
Common Article 3 prohibits detainees from being subjected to violence, outrages upon personal dignity, torture, and cruel or degrading punishment.
At the time, the War Crimes Act made any violation of Common Article 3 a crime. Thus, Hamdan opened the possibility that U.S. personnel could face criminal liability for earlier interrogations of a! Qaeda,
Also in 2006
September 6, 2006. the Army released an updated version of the Field Manual that implemented the Detainee Treatment Act. The Manual authorized 19 interrogation techniques and expressly banned eight others, including waterboarding and depriving detainees of necessary food, water, or medical care.
Romney Advisers write:
On July 20, 2007, President Bush issued such an Executive Order authorizing the CIA to use six enhanced interrogation techniques
Romney's Advisers were pissed when President Obama null and voided Bush's Exec Order allowing CIA to torture.
On January 22, 2009, on his second full day in office, President Obama issued a new Executive Order concerning detainee interrogation. This Executive Order rescinded the Bush Executive Order, banned enhanced interrogation techniques across the U.S. government, and generally provided that the methods listed in the Army Field Manual were the only ones authorized for interrogation of anyone in U.S. custody while in an armed conflict.
Ok, to me Romney's Advisers memo is grotesque. Torture is illegal under federal and international law.
When I first read their memo my thought was OMFG! I see Cheney's name all over this memo (both Cheney's, Liz & Dick).
My next response was depression ... I am stunned as to me it is depressing to see Advisers to an American Presidential Candidate advising torture ... torture ... which is a violation of Federal Laws and International laws.
America tried, convicted and hung Japanese soldiers who tortured (Waterboarded) American soldiers in WWII yet Mitt Romney's Advisers want to bring Torture back.
Romney's Advisers, who were Bush/Cheney Advisers are: disgusting, sickening, repulsive ... and have no business being anywhere near the White House.