George W. Bush confronted his enemies today.

seafan

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Thu Sep-14-06 03:58 PM
Original message

George W. Bush confronted his enemies today.

Edited on Thu Sep-14-06 04:01 PM by seafan

And they are in his own party.

John McCain
John Warner
Lindsey Graham
Gen. Colin Powell
Army Gen. John Vessey

Today is a pivotal day.

President Bush visited Capitol Hill Thursday where he conferred behind closed doors with House Republicans on legislation to give the government more power to spy on, imprison and interrogate terrorism suspects.

Bush is in a panic to pass legislation before the November midterm election to legalize his torture of prisoners and detainees, and to immunize his lieutenants from the possibility of prosecution for international war crimes for these violations of the Geneva Convention.

Bush's proposals would narrow the U.S. legal interpretation of the Geneva Conventions in a bid to allow tougher interrogations and shield U.S. personnel from being prosecuted for war crimes.

So, Bush stormed up to the Capitol today, accompanied by Vice President Dick Cheney and White House adviser Karl Rove, to strike fear into the hearts of the Republicans, to enforce their compliance.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Secretary of State Colin Powell joined top Republican senators to oppose President Bush's request to reinterpret a Geneva Convention rule in order to allow tougher interrogations of terror suspects.
Powell wrote to a major opponent of Bush's plan, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, in a letter released Thursday, that he opposed Bush's request of Congress to allow reinterpretation of Common Article III of the Geneva Conventions.

Article III prohibits nations engaged in combat not of "an international character" from, among other things, "violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture" and "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment."
In a decision earlier this summer, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration must meet Article III standards in its treatment of terror detainees.
The administration believes that the court's ruling prevents it from properly interrogating terrorist suspects and asked Congress to approve a change in interpretation.

But McCain, a former Vietnam POW, and Powell -- along with Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John Warner of Virginia, chairman of the Armed Services Committee -- oppose any changes to the U.S. interpretation of Article III, arguing that it could adversely affect enemies' treatment of captured U.S. service members harshly. (Watch why the GOP is split over tribunals -- 2:40")
"The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism," Powell, a retired Army four-star general, wrote in his letter to McCain, whose amendment last year opposed the use of torture. (Read Powell's letter)
"To redefine Common Article III would add to those doubts," Powell said. "Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk."

McCain also has issued a letter from retired Army Gen. John Vessey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Reagan administration, opposing the administration bill.
Vessey told McCain the measure "would undermine the moral basis which has generally guided our conduct in war throughout our history."

Military lawyers also have raised concerns about the administration bill's restrictions on due-process rights for defendants. Prosecutors would be able to present evidence to the tribunal that would be kept secret from the defense and use hearsay and coerced confessions against defendants. Human rights groups have objected to those provisions as well.

Powell's letter surfaced while Bush held a morning meeting with Republican lawmakers to lobby for his tribunal plan.

The Powell letter release was critically timed by McCain, according to former Boston Globe writer, Thomas Oliphant, stating this on the Al Franken Show today.

And Bush is intimidating his top military people with a renewed assault:

In an effort to drum up support for its proposal, the White House released a second letter to lawmakers signed by the military's top uniformed lawyers. Saying they wanted to "clarify" past testimony on Capitol Hill in which they opposed the administration's plan, the service lawyers wrote that they "do not object" to sections of Bush's proposal for the treatment of detainees and found the provisions "helpful."

Two congressional aides who favor McCain's plan said the military lawyers signed that letter after refusing to endorse an earlier one offered by the Pentagon's general counsel, William Haynes, that expressed more forceful support for Bush's plan.

At nearly the same time Bush met with House Republicans, Sen. John Warner (news, bio, voting record), R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Thursday was asking his panel to finish an alternative to the White House plan to prosecute terror suspects and redefine acts that constitute war crimes.

The White House on Thursday said the alternate approach was unacceptable because it would force the CIA to end a program of using forceful interrogation methods with suspected terrorists.

Warner believes the administration proposal would lower the standard for the treatment of prisoners, potentially putting U.S. troops at risk should other countries retaliate.

Two other Republicans — McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record) of South Carolina — have joined Warner in opposing Bush's bill.

The administration didn't allow such a direct challenge to pass without criticism. On Wednesday, the White House arranged for a conference call with reporters so National Intelligence Director John Negroponte could argue that Warner's proposal would undermine the nation's ability to interrogate prisoners.

And, another loony pops up with this:

Sen. John Cornyn (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, who supports the administration, said he did not think the Bush plan would endanger U.S. troops because al-Qaida doesn't take prisoners. "The prisoners they do take they behead," he said.

Troops, did you hear that? Putting your lives on the line for our country, you deserve infinitely better than this insane GOP. They are certifiable.

And this:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, has threatened to circumvent the Armed Services Committee and bring the administration's plan directly to the Senate floor, which could lead to an election-year showdown within Republican ranks.

And this:

"We hope to hear from the president how urgent it is that we pass measures to fight terrorism before Congress leaves for the November elections," said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

The other bill Bush is pushing would give legal status to the administration's warrantless wiretapping program. It was approved on a party-line vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, but is stalled in the House amid staunch opposition from Democrats and some Republicans concerned that the program violates civil liberties.

Passage of both pieces of legislation is viewed as critical to the GOP's strategy to present itself as the party of national security going into the midterm elections less than two months away.

This is it, people.

This is all they have left.

They MUST force these 2 pieces of legislation, legitimizing their crimes against humanity and their blatant violations of our civil rights, and neatly sign them into law before the November election. The grim alternative for them is to find themselves burned at the stake of a Democratic barrage of criminal investigations aimed at them, come 2007.

This is their last chance to try to save their sorry, murderous, traitorous hides.

This is the rapidly approaching end of the GOP.

It's been a long time coming.

But they are finished.