Tag: bush torture memos

The New York Times and Sunday morning political talk shows are contorting themselves into linguistically-torturous positions in a feeble attempt to avoid using the word "torture" to describe the immoral and criminal techniques employed at Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib and CIA black sites against suspected al Qaeda-linked prisoners. Now, Foreign Policy magazine has produced the euphemism-free "ultimate guide to the Bush Administration's journey to the dark side."

Archbishop of Denver Charles Chaput is not one to shy away from national politics and he encourages Catholics around the country to engage as well. The connection between Catholic ethics and government policy is fast becoming a specialty in his public speaking. Yet so far there has been nothing issued from his office to guide Catholic thought on the matter of the shocking Bush torture memos and the meaning of their release.

The Web is brimming today with comment on Obama's release of the Bush team's torture memos, much of it decrying Obama's accompanying statement, in which he said he believes the torturers should not be held to account. But the politics that gave rise to the memos suggest a more accurate reading of the politics surrounding their release.