IT'S THE TORTURE, STUPID (Ted Rall)

Restoring Human Rights Must Be Next Prez's Top Priority NEW YORK--Both major presidential candidates have promised to roll back the Bush Administration's torture archipelago. Both say they'll close Guantánamo, abolish legalized torture, and respect the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war. Obama also pledges to eliminate "extraordinary rendition," in which the CIA kidnaps people and flies them to other countries to be tortured, and says he will investigate Bush Administration officials for possible prosecution for war crimes. If followed by other meaningful changes in behavior--withdrawing from Afghanistan and Iraq and foreswearing preemptive warfare--restoring the rule of law and respecting the rights of "enemy combatants" can start America's long, slow climb back to moral parity in the community of... [read full story]