Good news: The Republicans agree. Bad news: "The Abuse Can Continue"

[ProSense]

The Abuse Can Continue

Senators won't authorize torture, but they won't prevent it, either.

Friday, September 22, 2006; Page A16

THE GOOD NEWS about the agreement reached yesterday between the Bush administration and Republican senators on the detention, interrogation and trial of accused terrorists is that Congress will not -- as President Bush had demanded -- pass legislation that formally reinterprets U.S. compliance with the Geneva Conventions. Nor will the Senate explicitly endorse the administration's use of interrogation techniques that most of the world regards as cruel and inhumane, if not as outright torture. Trials of accused terrorists will be fairer than the commission system outlawed in June by the Supreme Court.

The bad news is that Mr. Bush, as he made clear yesterday, intends to continue using the CIA to secretly detain and abuse certain terrorist suspects. He will do so by issuing his own interpretation of the Geneva Conventions in an executive order and by relying on questionable Justice Department opinions that authorize such practices as exposing prisoners to hypothermia and prolonged sleep deprivation. Under the compromise agreed to yesterday, Congress would recognize his authority to take these steps and prevent prisoners from appealing them to U.S. courts. The bill would also immunize CIA personnel from prosecution for all but the most serious abuses and protect those who in the past violated U.S. law against war crimes.

In short, it's hard to credit the statement by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) yesterday that "there's no doubt that the integrity and letter and spirit of the Geneva Conventions have been preserved." In effect, the agreement means that U.S. violations of international human rights law can continue as long as Mr. Bush is president, with Congress's tacit assent. If they do, America's standing in the world will continue to suffer, as will the fight against terrorism.

Snip..

Mr. Bush wanted Congress to formally approve these practices and to declare them consistent with the Geneva Conventions. It will not. But it will not stop him either, if the legislation is passed in the form agreed on yesterday. Mr. Bush will go down in history for his embrace of torture and bear responsibility for the enormous damage that has caused.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/21/AR2006092101647.html

[ProSense]

1. "Republicans will go to extreme lengths to disguise... immorality of this"

Blogged by JC on 09.20.06 @ 11:48 PM ET

A Do-over

Today in the House Judiciary Committee we defeated the Bush Administration's military tribunal legislation, a bill sought by the President so he could continue his program of countenancing and encouraging torture.

Democrats, voting with unity, were joined by a number of Republicans to defeat the bill 17-20. That was until later in the day when, in a despicably cynical maneuver, the Republicans employed a rarely used legislative procedure to re-take the vote. The second time they succeeded.

Republicans will go to extreme lengths to disguise the immorality of this program and the dissension rife within their party. This do-over vote the Republicans conducted today demonstrates how willing they are to trash the democratic process to advance this despicable program.

There is no clearer indication that our country urgently needs new leadership, and oversight, in Congress.

http://www.conyersblog.us/archives/00000552.htm

[BootinUp]

2. Good editorial. How can we get all Americans

to read it?

[leveymg]

3. My LTTE to the WaPo:

Dear Editor:

I applaud this editorial. I think you point out the major problems with the torture "compromise" made yesterday between the White House and Senators McCain, Warner and Graham. I think, however, the editorial misses one major issue, and it is huge.

If, indeed, Congress passes into law a measure that would immunize U.S. personnel who have in the past abused detainees, that could trigger international enforcement mechanism built into the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT). That might cause a serious confrontation down the road between the U.S. and the world diplomatic and legal communities. We would want Congress, when it scripts a final Bill, to remove any language that suggests an intent to grant such immunity.

Sincerely -

___________________________________
DU readers might want to read my post at DKOS, which describes the mandatory sanctions mechanism contained in the CAT that would be triggered by an attempt to grant immunity for past acts of torture. See, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/21/125733/035

[ProSense]

4. Lauding Republican complicity!

The military experience of the president in the Texas Air National Guard and the records of his principal aides, few of whom saw active service in wartime, are not calculated to inspire great sensitivity to the possibility of being captured and harshly interrogated.

On the Senate side, to the contrary, apart from Senator McCain's own ordeal as a prisoner in North Vietnam, there is Air Force Reservist Lindsey Graham, who served in Afghanistan helping to train military lawyers and judges. Graham is the first sitting senator in decades to perform military duty in a war zone.

Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) served stateside in the Air Force as a volunteer during the Korean War. And Sen. John Warner (news, bio, voting record) served in the Navy and the Marine Corps before becoming secretary of the Navy.

And so when the law speaks of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of captives, it may have more meaning for a senator who served than for a White House official who never had to worry about possibly being tortured.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20060922/cm_csm/yschorr22