Reid's Petition Against Bush Torture Policies Gains Strength

For the first time in history, our nation has a president who endorses torture. Leaders like Harry Reid are standing up to it.

Despite all of the national embarrassment tied to the Abu Ghraib Prison incidents, the President wants to push the policy of torture, the notion of which the United States historically considered unethical and below us. Photo courtesy: agoravox.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - Last Saturday, George Bush announced that he vetoed the Intelligence Authorization Bill. Nevada Senator Harry Reid says this sends a message to the rest of the world that he supports torture, even after Congress rejected practices such as water boarding.

Reid has been gathering signatures for a petition on his blog giveemhellharry.com from people who share his views on torture.

"I want to thank the tens of thousands of you who signed our petition taking a stand against torture. It is still vital that as many people as possible take this stand as Congress goes back to work on the Intelligence Authorization Bill. If you've already signed, please ask your friends and family to do so. If you haven't signed, speak out against torture now by visiting: giveemhellharry.com/stoptorture."

Reid continued by saying, "George Bush has once again compromised the moral leadership of our nation. By vetoing a bill establishing a single, government-wide interrogation standard, the President has substituted his own judgment for that of the vast majority of military and foreign policy experts -- including Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq -- who all agree that torture is simply counterproductive," Reid said.

He says it is ironic that George Bush has warned against ignoring the advice of our commanders in Iraq, "while at the same time ignoring the Army Field Manual's determination that horrific tactics such as water boarding elicit unreliable information." Reid says the President's policies put U.S. troops at risk and undermine our counterinsurgency efforts.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's words on this subject have impact and appear to greatly reflect the way Americans feel about Bush's torture policy. Reid is ranked No. 1 in terms of power in Congress, according to this year's power ranking by Congress.org.

Americans often complain about media coverage of the Iraq war casting it in a negative light, but it seems that as long as Bush and other politicians continue to rally behind the very worst politics in our nation's recent history, photos like the one above will stay in front of them.