MSNBC - The Roots of Torture: "as a means of pre-empting a repeat of 9/11, Bush, along with Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft, signed off on a secret system of detention and interrogation that opened the door to such methods. It was an approach that they adopted to sidestep the historical safeguards of the Geneva Conventions, which protect the rights of detainees and prisoners of war. In doing so, they overrode the objections of Secretary of State Colin Powell and America's top military lawyers—and they left underlings to sweat the details of what actually happened to prisoners in these lawless places. While no one deliberately authorized outright torture, these techniques entailed a systematic softening up of prisoners through isolation, privations, insults, threats and humiliation—methods that the Red Cross concluded were 'tantamount to torture.'"

Once again, Powell is the voice of reason who is consistently ignored. Those Republicans who support this administration pointing to Powell as proof of his moderation should acknowledge that the administration uses him as cover, but doesn't really listen to him. Someday, we will have a clear record of how bad this fine American has been treated here.