Here's the whole email I received from IndictBushNow.org today:
Bush Feared Prosecution for War Crimes
In 2002, Gonzales urged Bush to protect them against "domestic criminal prosecution"
Because of the immense pressure brought by the Indict Bush movement, new revelations continue to come forth.
The Bush administration lied about the reason it decided to deprive detainees of Geneva Convention rights and protections. The real reason was that Bush and his lawyer decided that it was the best way to protect the President and other officials from criminal prosecution.
On January 11, 2002, the United States announced that it was refusing to abide by the 1949 Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war. The Third Geneva Convention, which provides specific guidelines for treatment of prisoner combatants, is a part of the "law of nations" and is a mainstay of international humanitarian law. The United States explained that the prisoners taken in Afghanistan and Pakistan were not actually prisoners of war, but were in fact "unlawful combatants."
The Bush administration always knew its programs were illegal and that they could be prosecuted for them. In January 2002, then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales advised Bush to deny prisoners of war protections under the Geneva Conventions. Doing so, Gonzales argued, "substantially reduces the threat of domestic criminal prosecution under the War Crimes Act" and "provides a solid defense to any future prosecution."
Bush's decision to end Geneva Convention protections sent a message to the U.S. military and intelligence services to commit war crimes. It was a decision that shocked many, including those within the military who rely on those protections for their own personnel.
Bush officials, in their supreme arrogance, believed they could just annul the laws they didn't like - that this would "provide a solid defense" when they left office.
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