Justice Dept. Repudiates Torture Memo: ; Bush Reserved Specific Right to Ignore Geneva Conventions

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WASHINGTON - The Bush administration laid out its legal reasoning for denying terrorism suspects the protections of international humanitarian law but immediately repudiated a key memo arguing that torture might be justified in the fight against al-Qaida.

The release Tuesday of hundreds of pages of internal memos by the White House was meant to blunt criticism that President Bush had laid the groundwork for the abuses of Iraqi prisoners by condoning torture. The president insisted Tuesday: "I have never ordered torture."

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Justice Dept. Repudiates Torture Memo: ; Bush Reserved Specific Right to Ignore Geneva Conventions

But critics said the developments left unresolved some questions about the administration's current guidelines for interrogating prisoners in Iraq and around the world. For example, a 2002 order signed by Bush says the p...

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