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Bush's Memoir: A reminder of human rights abuses


By Hanan Habibzai

Former US President George W Bush appeared once again in news when he launched his memoir earlier last week.

In his book Mr Bush clearly mentioned direct orders for water boarding terror suspected prisoners.

This apparently becomes a reminder for human rights activist who already launched protests against Bush’s recent remarks.

According, Hoffingdon Post The American Civil Liberties Union joined a growing chorus in the human rights community calling for a special prosecutor to investigate whether former president George W. Bush violated federal statutes prohibiting torture.''

Former US president strongly defended the use of water boarding and denied it amounted to torture, as critics and some allies claim. It’s appeared very delighted for some critics of Mr Bush's policies when the British Government has long regarded it as a form of torture.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron Asked whether US use of water boarding had prevented attacks in the UK, he added:

"Look, I think torture is wrong and I think we ought to be very clear about that. And I think we should also be clear that if actually you're getting information from torture, it's very likely to be unreliable information."

The daily Mirror has reported Mr Cameron's reacted to the Bush's comment. The Prime Minister suggested that the use of torture - and the incarceration of suspects in Guantanamo Bay without trial - could be counter-productive, by encouraging support for terrorists.

Speaking during a round of broadcast interviews in Seoul, Mr Cameron said: "I think there is both a moral reason for being opposed to torture - and Britain doesn't sanction torture - but secondly I think there's also an effectiveness thing about what he said.

"Thirdly, I would say if you look at the effect of Guantanamo Bay and other things like that, long-term that has actually helped to radicalise people and make our country and our world less safe, so I don't agree."

Sydney Morning Herald writes, George Bush, who took America into two wars, backed ''water boarding'' of terrorism suspects, was labelled a racist by a black entertainer over his response to Hurricane Katrina and went against his belief in the free market to bail out Wall Street, says he hopes that his presidency will ultimately be judged a success but he does not expect to be around to learn the verdict.

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