We know President Elect Obama is pragmatic and reaches across the aisle, but this seems like a no brainer. The army, religious people and decent Americans agree – we must stop torturing people
CHICAGO (Reuters) – A coalition of more than 200 religious groups urged U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday to sign an order, once he takes office, banning torture by any federal government entity.
“This is an opportunity where one official could … with one stroke of a pen, really change history here,” said Linda Gustitus, president of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.
The group, which has been pressing the issue since 2006, also wants the U.S. Congress to establish a special committee to investigate the use of what the Bush administration has called “enhanced interrogation techniques” used on terrorism suspects detained after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
President George W. Bush has said the United States does not practice torture. But the Central Intelligence Agency has admitted using waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning, on three occasions. Critics consider waterboarding torture.
“We want a full accounting,” Gustitus said in a telephone briefing from Washington. “We know that we tortured people … the country needs to come to grips with this.”
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