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Playing Politics with Torture
September 12, 2006
For five years after 9/11, the administration failed to work with Congress to develop a system to try detainees. Last week, Bush finally unveiled legislation for military commissions. "The rationale is clear," Andrew Sullivan writes. "In the week of the fifth anniversary of 9/11 the president wants to change the debate from Iraq, from Iran, from the past and position himself once again as the indispensable protector." With the bill, the administration is "proposing to write into law a two-track system that has existed as a practical matter for some time"; one system which observes the Geneva Convention's ban on "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment," and one that does not. The administration is working overtime to ensure that Congress toes the line, and House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) are pushing legislation that closely mirrors the administration's bill. They are pushing for a vote in both houses by the end of the month in the hope that “the memory of the Sept. 11 attacks [will] help rally lawmakers behind the White House proposal."
- The administration overrules the military in pursuit of freedom to torture. Last week, the Pentagon released a revised Army Field Manual that "provides Geneva Convention protections for all detainees and eliminates a secret list of interrogation tactics." Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence John Kimmons warned against legalizing a separate interrogation track. He said: "I am absolutely convinced [that] no good intelligence is going to come from abusive practices. I think history tells us that." Bush's legislation, however, "would “liberalize the definition of what is torture" by amending the War Crimes Act to "permit use of “hypothermia, threats of violence to the detainee and his family, stress positions, ‘long-time standing,’ prolonged sleep deprivation, and possibly waterboarding." Under the Bush plan, the CIA "will reserve the right to use the tougher tactics," while opening up the possibility that the Pentagon later could "revise its own standards to allow the harsher techniques."
- The administration is pressuring Congress: Last week, Sens. John Warner (R-VA), John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have been working on an alternative to the Bush bill that would bar "secret evidence or information obtained from 'cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.'" Unlike the administration bill, the Warner-McCain bill has been developed in consultation with military lawyers who hope it will ensure fair trials that withstand scrutiny, better protect our troops, and defend and maintain a system of military justice that is admired throughout the world. But the White House is pushing hard for concessions, and it remains unclear to what extent the alternative bill will preserve the provisions of the Geneva Conventions and the War Crimes Act that prohibit abuses and provide recourse when they occur. Yesterday, "CIA Director Michael V. Hayden went to Capitol Hill to lobby senators for the administration's version of the bill."
- The administration continues to play politics with national security. As soon as Congress acts to authorize these military commissions," Bush said last week, "we will prosecute these men and send a clear message to those who kill Americans: No matter how long it takes, we will find you and bring you to justice." The speech signaled an effort by Bush to reframe the debate over military commissions as a false choice "between breaching the Geneva conventions or backing Khalid Sheikh Mohammed." "It’s territory he knows and feels secure on," Andrew Sullivan writes, "goading the opposition as appeasers and terror lovers."
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