Report: Bush to give Gitmo detainees Geneva protections

The Bush administration's determination to deny Geneva Conventions protection to some terrorism suspects has apparently collapsed.

Now, the Pentagon will reportedly grant full protections to detainees at Guantanamo Bay and other U.S. facilities.

In a memo released by the Pentagon this morning, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, citing the Supreme Court's decision, ordered all Pentagon personnel to "adhere to these standards" and to "promptly review" all policies and practices "to ensure that they comply with the standards" of the Geneva Convention's Common Article 3.

Since 2001, the administration has argued that the Geneva Conventions would be respected as a matter of policy but that they did not apply by law. The Supreme Court, in a 5-3 decision, rejected that view.

White House spokesman Tony Snow confirmed the new approach, according to wire service reports, saying that while detainees have been treated humanely, "we want to get it right. . . . It's not really a reversal of policy." Snow called the Supreme Court decision "complex."

But in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, Steven Bradbury, acting assistant attorney general, stated that the court has indeed "imposed another baseline standard . . . that we must now interpret and implement."

Neither the White House nor the Pentagon provided any immediate details as to what would be done differently or how the decision would effect the controversial policies on interrogation, which have provoked an international outcry as well as considerable domestic controversy.

Bradbury, in his testimony, asked Congress to work with the administration to define the appropriate standards now required so as to remove uncertainty he said has been created by the court's ruling.

The England memo was first reported by the British newspaper the Financial Times this morning.

This sounds like great news. It's would be nice to think that the Executive branch intends to obey the law.

But, what if Tony Snow isn't just trying to spin victory out of defeat? What if he really means that this isn't a reversal in policy? We know very well that Bush won't hestitate to say one thing in front of the cameras and then do another when they're gone. Signing statements, anyone?

Maybe Snowjob is giving to us straight, and this is all just a big diversion. The Bush administration could have leaked the England memo itself. All the world believes now that Bush has bowed to the judgment of the Supreme Court and will stop torturing people. Behind closed prison doors, however, the dark, dirty games continue unimpeded.

After all, Bush has stated insistently that adhering to the Geneva Conventions with regards to terrorism suspects puts America at risk. If that's what he believes, why would he do it?