Bush camp distances from torture memo

WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- The Bush administration has released documents showing President George Bush was briefed on the use of torture, but declined to authorize it.

Under mounting worldwide pressure to clarify a 50-page memo issued by the Justice Department Aug. 1, 2002, that concluded international conventions prohibit "only the most extreme acts" of torture, the White House released a series of memos tracing Bush's response.

In a Feb. 7, 2002, memo titled, "Humane Treatment of al-Qaida and Taliban Detainees," Bush said "I have the authority under the Constitution to suspend Geneva (Conventions) as between the United States and Afghanistan, but I decline to exercise that authority at this time."

Daniel Dell'Orto, the principal deputy general counsel for the Defense Department, said although expanded interrogation techniques are allowed at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba on suspected Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners, the treatment of prisoners in Iraq is "all Geneva, all the time."

Bush's Guantanamo prisoner treatment policy is based on the premise the enemy declares no country its home, wears no uniforms and concentrates its attacks on civilians, the Washington Times said.