Bush Defends Torture
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on May 30th, 2009 4:41 am by HL
George W. Bush took a break from the quiet life to defend his decision to torture detainees, saying his administration’s harsh methods were “within the law” and “saved lives.” Of course, the former president didn’t use the T word. “The first thing you do,” said Bush, “is ask what’s legal? What do the lawyers say is possible?”
CNN:
“The first thing you do is ask what’s legal?” Bush said. “What do the lawyers say is possible? I made the decision, within the law, to get information so I can say to myself, ‘I’ve done what it takes to do my duty to protect the American people.’ I can tell you that the information we got saved lives.”
Bush avoided the sharp tone favored by Cheney in recent weeks and stressed he does not want to disparage Obama.
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Researchers have issued a report declaring that climate change is already killing 300,000 people a year and that the number will only increase as heat, flood, storm and fire combine to create “the greatest humanitarian challenge the world faces.”
The Guardian:
Climate change is already responsible for 300,000 deaths a year and is affecting 300m people, according to the first comprehensive study of the human impact of global warming.
It projects that increasingly severe heatwaves, floods, storms and forest fires will be responsible for as many as 500,000 deaths a year by 2030, making it the greatest humanitarian challenge the world faces.
Economic losses due to climate change today amount to more than $125bn a year — more than the all present world aid. The report comes from former UN secretary general Kofi Annan’s thinktank, the Global Humanitarian Forum. By 2030, the report says, climate change could cost $600bn a year.
Civil unrest may also increase because of weather-related events, the report says: “Four billion people are vulnerable now and 500m are now at extreme risk. Weather-related disasters … bring hunger, disease, poverty and lost livelihoods. They pose a threat to social and political stability”
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