Bush Accepts McCain's Ban on
Torture
Yahoo News/AP
By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer
December 15, 2005
WASHINGTON -President Bush reversed course on Thursday and accepted Sen.
John McCain (news, bio, voting record)'s call for a law banning cruel, inhuman
and degrading treatment of foreign suspects in the war on terror.
Bush said the agreement will "make it clear to the world that this
government does not torture and that we adhere to the international convention
of torture, whether it be here at home or abroad."
"It's a done deal," said McCain, talking to reporters in a driving rain
outside the White House after he met with the president.
Under the deal, CIA interrogators would be given the same legal rights as
currently guaranteed members of the military who are accused of breaking
interrogation guidelines. Those rules say the accused can defend themselves by
arguing it was reasonable for them to believe they were obeying a legal order.
The government also would provide counsel for accused interrogators.
"We've sent a message to the world that the United States is not like the
terrorists," McCain said earlier as he sat next to Bush in the Oval Office. "We
have no grief for them, but what we are is a nation that upholds values and
standards of behavior and treatment of all people, no matter how evil or bad
they are. And I think this will help us enormously in winning the war for the
hearts and minds of people throughout the world in the war on terror."
Still holding out was Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House
Armed Services Committee. He said he would hold up completion of one of the two
bills that includes the ban unless he got White House assurances that the new
rules would still allow "the same high level of effective intelligence
gathering" as under current procedures.
But officials said the ban would remain intact in the other bill, the final
defense spending measure.
The White House at one point threatened a veto if the ban was included in
legislation sent to the president's desk, and Vice President Dick Cheney made
an unusual personal appeal to all Republican senators to give an exemption to
the CIA.
But congressional sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of the ban, and
McCain, a former Navy pilot who was held and tortured for five and a half years
in Vietnam, adopted the issue.
The Republican maverick and the administration have been negotiating for
weeks in search of a compromise, but it became increasingly clear that he, not
the administration, had the votes in Congress.
Bush called McCain "a good man who's honored the values of America."
"We have worked very closely with the senator and others to achieve that
objective as well as to provide protections for those who are the front line of
fighting the terrorists," Bush said.
McCain thanked Bush for his personal participation in the negotiations and
his effort to resolve their disagreements.
McCain said there are no loopholes in the agreement. The negotiations with
the White House produced an agreement to provide to civilian interrogators the
same legal defense protections as those afforded military interrogators and to
set up a process for legal counsel.
He said that he and other congressional supporters of the amendment told the
White House they believed it was sufficient to have the same protections as
provided to military personnel and "I'm glad they agreed."
McCain said he hoped to have it passed in Congress within 24 hours.
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., Hunter's counterpart in the Senate, was on board
and appeared with Bush and McCain in the Oval Office. "We're going to get
there," Warner said afterward.
McCain's amendment would prohibit "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment" of anyone in U.S. government custody, regardless of where they are
held. It also would require that service members follow procedures in the Army
Field Manual during interrogations of prisoners in Defense Department
facilities.
In discussions with the White House, a provision was added modeled after the
Uniform Code of Military Justice. That says that military personnel accused of
violating interrogation rules can defend themselves if a "reasonable" person
could have concluded they were following a lawful order. The addition extends
those rights to CIA interrogators, and McCain said from the Oval Office that
they were "legitimate concerns."
Officials said the language also now includes a specific statement that
those who violate the standards will not be afforded immunity from civil or
criminal lawsuits.
In recent weeks, the administration had sought to add language that would
offer protection from prosecution for interrogators accused of violating the
provision. But McCain rejected that, arguing it would undermine the ban by not
giving interrogators reason to follow the law.
Earlier this year, the Senate included McCain's original provisions in two
defense bills, including a must-pass $453 billion spending bill that provides
$50 billion for the Iraq war. But the House omitted them from their versions,
and the bills have been stalled.
Negotiations intensified this week, with Congress under pressure to approve
at least the spending bill before adjourning for the year.
Supporters of the provisions say they are needed to clarify current
anti-torture laws considering abuses at Abu Ghraib in Iraq and allegations of
misconduct by U.S. troops at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.
They also say that passing such legislation will help the United States
repair an image they say has been tarnished by the prisoner abuse scandal.
The White House long has contended that the United States does not engage in
torture.
President Bush reversed course on Thursday and accepted Sen. John McCain's
call for a law banning cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of foreign
suspects in the war on terror.
Bush said the agreement will "make it clear to the world that this
government does not torture and that we adhere to the international convention
of torture, whether it be here at home or abroad."
"It's a done deal," said McCain, talking to reporters in a driving rain
outside the White House after he met with the president.
Under the deal, CIA interrogators would be given the same legal rights as
currently guaranteed members of the military who are accused of breaking
interrogation guidelines. Those rules say the accused can defend themselves by
arguing it was reasonable for them to believe they were obeying a legal order.
The government also would provide counsel for accused interrogators.
"We've sent a message to the world that the United States is not like the
terrorists," McCain said earlier as he sat next to Bush in the Oval Office. "We
have no grief for them, but what we are is a nation that upholds values and
standards of behavior and treatment of all people, no matter how evil or bad
they are. And I think this will help us enormously in winning the war for the
hearts and minds of people throughout the world in the war on terror."
Still holding out was Rep. Duncan Hunter (news, bio, voting record),
R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. He said he would hold
up completion of one of the two bills that includes the ban unless he got White
House assurances that the new rules would still allow "the same high level of
effective intelligence gathering" as under current procedures.
But officials said the ban would remain intact in the other bill, the final
defense spending measure.
The White House at one point threatened a veto if the ban was included in
legislation sent to the president's desk, and Vice President Dick Cheney made
an unusual personal appeal to all Republican senators to give an exemption to
the CIA.
But congressional sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of the ban, and
McCain, a former Navy pilot who was held and tortured for five and a half years
in Vietnam, adopted the issue.
The Republican maverick and the administration have been negotiating for
weeks in search of a compromise, but it became increasingly clear that he, not
the administration, had the votes in Congress.
Bush called McCain "a good man who's honored the values of America."
"We have worked very closely with the senator and others to achieve that
objective as well as to provide protections for those who are the front line of
fighting the terrorists," Bush said.
McCain thanked Bush for his personal participation in the negotiations and
his effort to resolve their disagreements.
McCain said there are no loopholes in the agreement. The negotiations with
the White House produced an agreement to provide to civilian interrogators the
same legal defense protections as those afforded military interrogators and to
set up a process for legal counsel.
He said that he and other congressional supporters of the amendment told the
White House they believed it was sufficient to have the same protections as
provided to military personnel and "I'm glad they agreed."
McCain said he hoped to have it passed in Congress within 24 hours.
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., Hunter's counterpart in the Senate, was on board
and appeared with Bush and McCain in the Oval Office. "We're going to get
there," Warner said afterward.
McCain's amendment would prohibit "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment" of anyone in U.S. government custody, regardless of where they are
held. It also would require that service members follow procedures in the Army
Field Manual during interrogations of prisoners in Defense Department
facilities.
In discussions with the White House, a provision was added modeled after the
Uniform Code of Military Justice. That says that military personnel accused of
violating interrogation rules can defend themselves if a "reasonable" person
could have concluded they were following a lawful order. The addition extends
those rights to CIA interrogators, and McCain said from the Oval Office that
they were "legitimate concerns."
Officials said the language also now includes a specific statement that
those who violate the standards will not be afforded immunity from civil or
criminal lawsuits.
In recent weeks, the administration had sought to add language that would
offer protection from prosecution for interrogators accused of violating the
provision. But McCain rejected that, arguing it would undermine the ban by not
giving interrogators reason to follow the law.
Earlier this year, the Senate included McCain's original provisions in two
defense bills, including a must-pass $453 billion spending bill that provides
$50 billion for the Iraq war. But the House omitted them from their versions,
and the bills have been stalled.
Negotiations intensified this week, with Congress under pressure to approve
at least the spending bill before adjourning for the year.
Supporters of the provisions say they are needed to clarify current
anti-torture laws considering abuses at Abu Ghraib in Iraq and allegations of
misconduct by U.S. troops at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.
They also say that passing such legislation will help the United States
repair an image they say has been tarnished by the prisoner abuse scandal.
The White House long has contended that the United States does not engage in
torture.
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