Forty-six Republicans joined 43 Democrats and one independent
in voting to define and limit interrogation techniques that
U.S. troops may use against terrorism suspects,
...last night, 89 senators sided with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.),
a former prisoner of war in Vietnam who led the fight for the
interrogation restrictions. McCain said military officers have
implored Congress for guidelines...
The military and the Senate united against the White House.
The neocons are managing to create all sorts of counter-
alliances, all over the world.
In its statement on the veto threat, the White House said the
measure would "restrict the president's authority to protect
Americans effectively from terrorist attack and bringing
terrorists to justice."
Bush is admitting that torture is official policy? A bit of honesty
here?
rkm
--------------------------------------------------------
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/05/AR2005100502062.html
washingtonpost.com
Senate Supports Interrogation Limits
90-9 Vote on the Treatment of Detainees Is a Bipartisan Rebuff
of the White House
By Charles Babington and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 6, 2005; A01
The Senate defied the White House yesterday and voted to set
new limits on interrogating detainees in Iraq and elsewhere,
underscoring Congress's growing concerns about reports of
abuse of suspected terrorists and others in military custody.
Forty-six Republicans joined 43 Democrats and one independent
in voting to define and limit interrogation techniques that
U.S. troops may use against terrorism suspects, the latest
sign that alarm over treatment of prisoners in the Middle East
and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is widespread in both parties.
The White House had fought to prevent the restrictions, with
Vice President Cheney visiting key Republicans in July and a
spokesman yesterday repeating President Bush's threat to veto
the larger bill that the language is now attached to -- a $440
billion military spending measure.
Senate GOP leaders had managed to fend off the detainee
language this summer, saying Congress should not constrain the
executive branch's options. But last night, 89 senators sided
with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a former prisoner of war in
Vietnam who led the fight for the interrogation restrictions.
McCain said military officers have implored Congress for
guidelines, adding that he mourns "what we lose when by
official policy or by official negligence we allow, confuse or
encourage our soldiers to forget . . . that which is our
greatest strength: that we are different and better than our
enemies."
The vote came hours after Senate Democratic leaders blasted
Republicans for canceling a classified briefing on
anti-terrorism matters by the director of national
intelligence, John D. Negroponte. Senate Democrats also sent
Bush a letter demanding more information about how he intends
to succeed in Iraq.
The president, who defended his Iraq policies at a news
conference Tuesday, plans to deliver "a significant speech on
the war on terrorism" today, spokesman Scott McClellan told
reporters. He said Bush will "talk in unprecedented detail
about the nature of the enemy we face" and "about our
comprehensive strategy for defeating" that enemy.
The Senate's 90 to 9 vote suggested a new boldness among
Republicans to challenge the White House on war policy. The
amendment by McCain, one of Bush's most significant backers at
the outset of the Iraq war, would establish uniform standards
for the interrogation of people detained by U.S. military
personnel, prohibiting "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment
while they are in U.S. custody.
McCain's allies included Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a
former military lawyer, and Armed Services Committee Chairman
John W. Warner (R-Va.). They said new detainee standards are
needed to clear up confusion among U.S. troops that may have
led to the mistreatment alleged at the Navy's Guantanamo Bay
prison in Cuba and to the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison
in Iraq.
The military came under condemnation throughout the world two
years ago upon the release of photos showing U.S. troops
humiliating and terrifying inmates at Abu Ghraib. Some
low-ranking soldiers have been sentenced to prison for the
abuse, but many lawmakers and others said they continue to
worry about tactics that border on torture in Iraq and at
Guantanamo Bay.
In his closing speech, McCain said terrorists "hold in
contempt" international conventions "such as the Geneva
Conventions and the treaty on torture."
"I know that," he said. "But we're better than them, and we
are the stronger for our faith."
In its statement on the veto threat, the White House said the
measure would "restrict the president's authority to protect
Americans effectively from terrorist attack and bringing
terrorists to justice."
But as new allegations of abuse surface, the chorus of McCain
supporters is broadening. McCain read a letter on the Senate
floor from former secretary of state Colin L. Powell, who
endorsed the amendment and said it would help address "the
terrible public diplomacy crisis created by Abu Ghraib."
Powell joins a growing group of retired generals and admirals
who blame prison abuse on "ambiguous instructions," as the
officers wrote in a recent letter. They urged restricting
interrogation methods to those outlined in the U.S. Army Field
Manual on Intelligence Interrogation, the parameters that
McCain's measure would establish.
McCain cited a letter he received from Army Capt. Ian
Fishback, who has fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Over 17
months, he struggled to get answers from his chain of command
to a basic question: What standards apply to the treatment of
enemy detainees?" McCain said. "But he found no answers. . . .
The Congress has a responsibility to answer this call."
Despite his victory last night, McCain has two major obstacles
remaining: House GOP leaders object to attaching it to a
spending bill, and Bush could veto it. However, senior GOP
Senate aides said they believe the differences could be
bridged, either by tweaking the measure or by changing the
field manual.
The Maryland and Virginia senators voted for the McCain
amendment.
Earlier in the day, tension over Iraq triggered an unusually
testy exchange between the chamber's top Republican and top
Democrat. Negroponte had accepted yesterday a Sept. 22
invitation from Democrats to brief all senators privately on
intelligence matters. But Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.)
said in a floor speech that he had told Negroponte to stay
away. Frist said the invitation was a partisan ploy and
unnecessary because of periodic briefings to Congress
conducted by Negroponte and other administration officials.
"I have been offended" by the Democrats' move, Frist told
Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). Reid replied that
canceling Negroponte's planned appearance was another example
of the administration and its congressional allies refusing to
provide information about progress and challenges in the Iraq
war and the broader battle against terrorism.
Reid and at least 39 other Democratic senators sent a letter
to Bush saying it was unclear whether "your administration has
a strategy for success that will preserve our fundamental
national security interests and permit us to bring our troops
home." The letter called on Bush "to provide direct answers"
to several questions, including the number of adequately
trained Iraqi security forces that will be needed to allow
U.S. troops to begin withdrawing.
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) was among several senior
Democrats who told reporters that Bush risks a further erosion
in public support unless he talks more openly about the
challenges in Iraq and realistic plans to overcome them. "It's
time the president tell us how he plans on getting us out of
the hole he's dug us so deeply into," Biden said.
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
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