The Geneva plaza of the United Nations, whose treaty the White House is debating. Credit Denis Balibouse/Reuters

Obama Could Reaffirm a Bush-Era Reading of a Treaty on Torture -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — When the Bush administration revealed in 2005 that it was secretly interpreting a treaty ban on “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” as not applying to C.I.A. and military prisons overseas, Barack Obama, then a newly elected Democratic senator from Illinois, joined in a bipartisan protest.

Mr. Obama supported legislation to make it clear that American officials were legally barred from using cruelty anywhere in the world. And in a Senate speech, he said enacting such a statute “acknowledges and confirms existing obligations” under the treaty, the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

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My Comment: It looks like someone within the administration is not happy with where this discussion is going .... and leaked the news to the New York Times. I personally doubt that President Obama is going to reveres a position that he has been steadfast on for his entire political life .... but it is also clear that there is a debate right now within the administration to revisit this policy. But what I would like to know is .... why the debate now? What do they know that they are not telling us?