Bush Promises To Follow Geneva Conventions But Snow Crosses Fingers

Well whaddaya know? It looks like Glenn Greenwald may have been right and that even the outlaws in the White House find they cannot ignore a Supreme Court ruling:

The Bush administration, called to account by Congress after the Supreme Court blocked military tribunals, said Tuesday all detainees at Guantanamo Bay and in U.S. military custody everywhere are entitled to protections under the Geneva Conventions.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said the policy, outlined in a new Defense Department memo, reflects the recent 5-3 Supreme Court decision blocking military tribunals set up by President Bush. That decision struck down the tribunals because they did not obey international law and had not been authorized by Congress.

The policy, described in a memo by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, appears to change the administration's earlier insistence that the detainees are not prisoners of war and thus not subject to the Geneva protections.

The memo instructs recipients to ensure that all Defense Department policies, practices and directives comply with Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions governing the humane treatment of prisoners.

Sounds good, and proves that the Law professor from Helsinki I quoted when the ruling was passed had it correct - the real winner in the Supreme's ruling was the integrity (for now) of the Geneva Conventions and the (possible) losers were the war criminals of Bush's administration.

But then Snow gives the game away:

Snow insisted that all U.S. detainees have been treated humanely. Still, he said, "We want to get it right."

"It's not really a reversal of policy," Snow asserted, calling the Supreme Court decision "complex."

Yeah sure, Tony. "Humanely." I have a one word counter to that one. "Waterboarding."

So is the claim that there is no reversal of policy a face-saving outright lie or a statement of the administration's intent to say one thing and do another for as long as they think there is no proof that it is going on?

Well, there's a possible one word answer to that one too. "Renditions."