The Gonzales Doctrine in Practice

A Pentagon official says we have 325 foreign fighters capture in Iraq who are not protected
by the Geneva Conventions.

This is the policy that Alberto Gonzales, during his confirmation hearings to become the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, spent the past two days saying had been repudiated. Clearly, it is not.

And, to be sure, one does not come out to say that certain prisoners of war are not protected by the Geneva Conventions, only to treat them as if they were protected. The US is engaged in the internationally recognized forms of torture which are banned by the Geneva conventions, on these fighters.

Why have we gone so far away from respecting international law? And, more immediately, will the US Senate confirm the man responsible for the origins of this policy -- regardless of what he says in a dog-and-pony show interivew meant to give them and him cover -- as the chief law enforcement officer of the land? And what kind of a country do you think we'll have then?