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Yesterday the Bush Administration actually said they would abide by the Geneva Conventions after all; the Defense Dept. issued a memo ordering the application of Common Article 3 to all "military commission procedures." Henceforth, detainees at Guantanamo (but not those stowed away in the secret black sites) are to be treated humanely and are guaranteed certain basic legal rights. Although denying that this is a u-turn or even a departure from prior policy, it was only last week that Bush explained his interpretation of the Court's decision: "they accepted the use of Guantánamo, the decision I made."Call him a flip-flopper but we would be wrong to misunderestimate Bush. Once this news is out of the headlines (and Rove will surely make sure of that if it doesn't die a natural death), it will be long forgotten by the time they roll out new legislation giving the President the power to nullify the Conventions at whim. Once done, there's always the option of a signing statement to be issued as needed. Congress has barely taken up its responsibility to oversee things presidential as it is. Who will go to Guantanamo to oversee the change in policy? How will we know that the newly discerned policy mandate is being enforced? Will the Red Cross and other human rights organizations be allowed in to observe how our homegrown Gulag has been newly converted? And if someone observes and makes public business as usual, they can always claim that some underlings just weren't following orders. Oops. Perhaps if we wait long enough, the Bush plan for Cuban annexation will be operative and Guantanamo will be just another dot on the map of a new colony in the American Empire.
