Alberto Gonzales' record on issues of torture and international law is cause not only for deep concern. It is cause enough that the Senate should oppose his nomination. When our country's reputation for abiding by international law is already suffering, the United States simply cannot afford to support a man who has advocated for ignoring international law. As a recent editorial in The New York Times points out, "[t]he attorney general does not merely head up the Justice Department. He is responsible for ensuring that America is a nation in which justice prevails. Mr. Gonzales' record makes him unqualified to take on this role or to represent the American justice system to the rest of the world. The Senate should reject his nomination."

Gonzales has a laundry list of writings and statements that contain little to prevent the use of torture by the U.S. military. Perhaps the most infamous is a memo, ordered by Gonzales in January of 2002, which defines permissible torture as anything short of death, permanent psychological damage, or organ failure. Gonzales has also referred to the Geneva Conventions as "quaint" and "obsolete."

Here are a few other stains on Gonzales' record, many of them examples of blatant dishonesty.

HIS TESTIMONY	HIS RECORD
Gonzales claimed he could not recall details of his role in the production of the so-called Justice Department "torture memo" of August 2002, saying, "I don't recall today whether I was in agreement with all the analysis, but I don't have a disagreement with the conclusions then reached by the [Justice] department."	He actually chaired the meetings on this memo, which included detailed descriptions of interrogation techniques such as "waterboarding," which involves strapping a detainee to a board, raising the feet above the head, wrapping the face and nose in a wet towel, and dripping water onto the head to produce an unbearable sensation of drowning. He raised no objections and gave CIA interrogators the legal blessings they sought.
Gonzales declined repeated invitations to repudiate past administration assertions that the president has the authority to ignore anti-torture statutes on national security grounds.	He advised President Bush in January 2002 that he had authority to exempt detainees from such protections as the Geneva Conventions.
Gonzales said, "it is appropriate to revisit" the Geneva Conventions. When questioned about whether U.S. personnel could legally engage in torture under any circumstances, Gonzales said: "I don't believe so, but I'd want to get back to you on that and make sure I don't provide a misleading answer."	A January 2002 draft memo signed by Gonzales stated that a "new paradigm" of a war on terrorism "renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners."

In addition to concerns about his oral testimony, his written testimony to Senate members is riddled with evasions. As The Washington Post reports: "In written answers to [Sen. Edward] Kennedy, Gonzales used the words ‘I am not at liberty to disclose' at least 10 times; ‘I do not recall' or ‘I have no recollection' six times; I did not ‘conduct a search' seven times; ‘I am not at liberty [to discuss certain matters]' 10 times; and ‘I have no present knowledge' seven times."

The New York Times editorial page makes the conclusion: "The biggest strike against Mr. Gonzales is the now repudiated memo that gave a disturbingly narrow definition of torture, limiting it to physical abuse that produced pain of the kind associated with organ failure or death. Mr. Gonzales's attempts to distance himself from the memo have been unconvincing, especially since it turns out he was the one who requested that it be written. Earlier the same year, Mr. Gonzales himself sent President Bush a letter telling him that the war on terror made the Geneva Conventions' strict limitations on the questioning of enemy prisoners "obsolete."

"These actions created the legal climate that made possible the horrific mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners being held in Abu Ghraib prison."

Republicans such as Sen. Lindsey O. Graham challenged Gonzales, saying, "When you start looking at torture statutes and you look at ways around the spirit of the law...you're losing the moral high ground. Once you start down this road, it is very hard to come back."

Instead of Gonzales, America must have an attorney general with a consistent record of taking the high road on human rights. Urge your senators to oppose Gonzales' nomination.

Source articles:

+ The Wrong Attorney General

+ Bush and His Cabinet Nominees Concede and Explain Little

+ Gonzales Defends His White House Record

+ Gonzales Helped Set the Course for Detainees