General Petreaus in FOX interview: US violated Geneva Convention

May 30, 6:07 PMAtlanta Political Buzz ExaminerEwa Kochanska

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Just hours prior to giving his commencement speech at Atlanta's Georgia Gwinnett College, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus clearly stated United States has violated Geneva Convention post 9/11 in an interview for FOX News with Martha MacCallum.

Gen. Petraeus, a commander of the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) is responsible for US operations in 20 countries spreading from Kazahstan to Egypt–including Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.  

In the interview, Petreus mentioned that he supports closing Gitmo in a responsible way, does not believe in "looking in the real view mirror" and examining what happened in the past, but believes Americans should not be afraid to live out their values, because that is what they are fighting for in the Middle East.  Here are a few paragraphs of the interview, and below 2 videos capturing the most important parts of the conversation: 

"MacCallum: Where do you think those people [Gitmo prisoners] should go?

Gen. Petraeus: Well, it's not for a soldier to say. What I do support is what has been termed the responsible closure of Gitmo. Gitmo has caused us problems, there's no question about it. I oversee a region in which the existence of Gitmo has been used by the enemy against us. We have not been without missteps or mistakes in our activity since 9/11 and again Gitmo is a lingering reminder for the use of some in that regard.

MacCallum: What about the concern that a Khalid Sheikh Muhammad or anybody of that ilk might be tried here in a US court and the possibility that some of the treatments that were used on them that they could go free.

Gen. Petraeus: Well, first of all, I don't think we should be afraid of our values we're fighting for, what we stand for. And so indeed we need to embrace them and we need to operationalize them in how we carry out what it is we're doing on the battlefield and everywhere else. So one has to have some faith, I think, in the legal system. One has to have a degree of confidence that individuals that have conducted such extremist activity would indeed be found guilty in our courts of law.

MacCallum: So you're confident that they will never go free.

Gen. Petraeus: I hope that's the case.

MacCallum: (asking whether heavy interrogation should be applied in emergencies) 

Gen. Petraeus: ....There might be an exception and that would require extraordinary but very rapid approval to deal with, but for the vast majority of the cases, our experience downrange if you will, is that the techniques that are in the Army Field Manual that lays out how we treat detainees, how we interrogate them -- those techniques work, that's our experience in this business.

MacCallum: So is sending this signal that we're not going to use these kind of techniques anymore, what kind of impact does this have on people who do us harm in the field that you operate in?

 Gen. Petraeus: Well, actually what I would ask is, does that not take away from our enemies a tool which again have beaten us around the head and shoulders in the court of public opinion? When we have taken steps that have violated the Geneva Conventions, we rightly have been criticized, so as we move forward I think it's important to again live our values, to live the agreements that we have made in the international justice arena and to practice those."

He was also asked whether he believes Barack Obama's diplomacy approach is working, and whether he's seen any changes in relations with Iran since the President took office. Petreaus answered that there has been no change in Iran's behavior, but also stated it is too soon to tell if Obama's tactic is working.