The hypocrisy of the Bush Administration's moral compass

Oh, the irony of an administration revered by faith-based conservatives violating basic human rights when interrogating terrorist detainees!

Susan J. Crawford, a senior Pentagon official, has gone on record today saying that the interrogation techniques used on Mohammed al-Qahtani, the "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, "met the legal definition of torture."

This doesn't really come as a surprise, as Guantánamo Bay officials have been accused of improper interrogation procedures, including waterboarding, for quite some time.

Thankfully, one of President-elect Barack Obama's first executive actions should be to close down Guantánamo Bay.

I find it ironic that the Bush Administration, which has been so staunchly supported by those that take the moral high road, would ultimately resort to some of the most unethical "guerilla" tactics. There's no doubt that these interrogation techniques are severely unethical and grossly misrepresent what the United States stands for.

Our country, a great democracy that has long prided itself on doing things the right way, dropped the ball on this one.

However, I pose this question: Are these unethical forms of interrogation now necessary to help protect Americans in this increasingly dangerous world?

For morality's sake, I certainly hope not.