America's Treatment of Suspects in the War on Terror

The war on terror is going to be with us for a long time to come, as is the question of how we treat terrorist suspects. The New Yorker magazine has published new details on the CIA's treatment of suspects at so-called "black sites" outside the country. Asked about the report at his most recent news conference, President Bush said, "Haven't seen it. We don't torture." But the article says "the Red Cross described the agency's detention and interrogation methods as tantamount to torture and declared that American officials responsible for the abusive treatment could have committed serious crimes." Is such treatment a violation of international law? Does it provide useful information?