Dum Pendebat Filius

Two interesting developments in the “Global War on Terror,” from today’s Washington Post:

1. “Government Must Share All Evidence on Detainees”

A federal appeals court charged with reviewing the enemy combatant status of detainees at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ruled yesterday that the government must provide the court and defense lawyers with classified evidence gathered against the detainees. The ruling indicates that the court wants to conduct full reviews of the Bush administration’s decisions about the suspected terrorists.

2. “Bush Approves New CIA Methods”

In an executive order lacking any details about actual interrogation techniques, Bush said the CIA program will now comply with a Geneva Conventions prohibition against “outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment.” His order, required by legislation signed in October, was delayed for months amid tense debate inside the administration.

Neither of these developments actually means much. It’s encouraging that a federal court wants to review the cases of terror suspects, but it’ll be a cold day in hell before the Bush administration actually allows meaningful reviews to take place. They will cite “national security” as an excuse for why their evidence must remain secret, rather than actually attempting to make a case for whether any of their war-on-terror detainees actually have anything to do with terrorism or not.

Similarly, the decision to tell the CIA to refrain from “outrages upon personal dignity” is meaningless. The administration still pretends that “the U.S. does not engage in torture,” so a new statement that no one will be tortured really isn’t a sign that anything’s going to change.

Let’s not forget, readers, that we’re living in a political climate where the current group of contenders for the GOP presidential nomination have been openly competing to see who can promise to be the most enthusiastic supporter of more and better torture. Americans flock to the movie theaters to watch sick torture-porn garbage films such as “Captivity” and tune in every week to watch Jack Bauer torture people on “24.” Even a Supreme Court Justice pretends that “24″ has something to do with real life. That is a fucking outrage upon personal dignity, readers.