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The actions at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo are the direct result of the Justice Department inventing legal precedence for prisoner abuse. We in America love to talk about our principles to others, but neglect to abound by them when stressed. To classify prisoners as enemy combatants is just one of those legal maneuvers invented by the Bush administration so that we need not apply the Geneva Conventions nor our own legal protections to prisoners. Similar attitudes have the US opt out of the international criminal court at the Hague, because we cannot surrender our autonomy. It is no surprise that the rest of the civilized world sees through the hypocrisy of the US. We are fueling the very hatred that we are trying to quench.
