The Pentagon has decidedto omit from new detainee policies a key tenet of the Geneva Convention that explicitly bans “humiliating and degrading treatment,” a step that would mark a further, potentially permanent, shift away from strict adherence to international human rights standards.

‘On Nov. 19, a call went out to collect the bodies of 24 Iraqi civilians. The unit found babies, women and children, shot in the head and chest. The next day, Capt. Jeffrey Pool released a terse statement: Fifteen Iraqis “were killed yesterday from the blast of a roadside bomb.’

Rights groups say the ruling will deter employees from speaking out. The US Supreme court has limited the rights of government whistle-blowers by ruling that they will not be protected under the First Amendment.

Congress has stalled Pentagon plans to put conventional warheads on inter-continental missiles for use in Washington’s “war on terror,” out of concern that they could trigger a nuclear war.

Enron Corp. employees who lost their jobs or saw their life savings wiped out in the energy trader’s spectacular collapse found bittersweet relief in the convictions of former chief executives Kenneth Lay and Jefferey Skilling.