This story is from January 7, 2005. I’m posting it to provide background for you to inspire you to write your senators about opposing the Gonzales confirmation for US Attorney General.


By Dan Eggen and R. Jeffrey Smith for The Washington Post.

Attorney general nominee Alberto R. Gonzales strongly defended his tenure as White House counsel yesterday, including his conclusion that the protections of the Geneva Conventions do not apply to alleged terrorists, and he suggested that the United States should consider renegotiating the international treaties to better wage its war on terrorism…
But under often tough questioning from Democrats and some Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Gonzales said he could not recall key details of his involvement in the production of an August 2002 memo that narrowly defined the tactics that constitute torture. He also declined repeated invitations to repudiate a past administration assertion that the president has the authority to ignore anti-torture statutes on national security grounds…
Gonzales said he could not remember who had requested the legal guidance on permissible interrogation tactics – many officials have said it was the CIA – but he acknowledged under questioning that high-pressure interrogation techniques were discussed in White House meetings at which he was present. Others have said the tactics included mock burials and simulated drownings…
But many Democrats and at least one Republican argued that Gonzales had participated in formulating policy that laid the foundation for the abuse scandals in Afghanistan, Iraq and Cuba, which have generated global outrage. Gonzales declined to answer many questions and said he could not recall details in relation to many others, prompting complaints from some Democrats on the committee.
“We’re looking for you, when we ask you questions, to give us an answer, which you haven’t done yet,” Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) told Gonzales. “I love you, but you’re not very candid so far.”
Gonzales said “it is appropriate to revisit” the Geneva Conventions, which provide an international standard of conduct for handling detainees during military conflicts. Gonzales disclosed that White House officials, including some lawyers, had held “some very preliminary discussion” about the idea, but he said “it’s not been a systematic project or effort.”…
Four different senators tried to pin down Gonzales on the August 2002 memo’s controversial assertion that a president had the power to authorize torture in unusual circumstances, but Gonzales deflected that, saying it was a “hypothetical question.” A new memo issued by the Justice Department last month also avoided the question of presidential power.
At the same time, Gonzales did not rule out reaching such a conclusion in the future. “I would have to know what . . . is the national interest that the president may have to consider,” he told Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.).

Here is the full text of the entire article in case the link goes bad:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54607-2005Jan6.html
Gonzales Defends His White House Record
By Dan Eggen and R. Jeffrey Smith
The Washington Post
Friday 07 January 2005
Nominee questioned on detainee policies.
Attorney general nominee Alberto R. Gonzales strongly defended his tenure as White House counsel yesterday, including his conclusion that the protections of the Geneva Conventions do not apply to alleged terrorists, and he suggested that the United States should consider renegotiating the international treaties to better wage its war on terrorism.
During a day-long hearing dominated by a debate over the Bush administration’s detention and interrogation policies, Gonzales pledged to pursue any allegations of prisoner abuse in Iraq and Guant