September 21, 2006

More Support for McCain

WaPo:

Mr. Bush also wants the CIA to be able to treat its detainees to such practices as "cold cell," or induced hypothermia, in which detainees are held naked in near-freezing temperatures and repeatedly doused with water; "long standing," in which prisoners are handcuffed in an uncomfortable standing position and forced to remain there for up to 40 hours; and prolonged sleep deprivation.

Throughout the world and for decades, such practices have been called torture. That's what the United States called them when they were used by the Soviet KGB. As the president himself tacitly acknowledges, they violate Geneva and other international conventions as well as current U.S. law. News that the United States has used these techniques -- as well as waterboarding, an ancient torture technique that simulates drowning -- has gravely damaged U.S. standing in the world and the fight against terrorism. It increases the danger that captured U.S. servicemen will be exposed to similar treatment by nations that might otherwise feel obliged to respect the Geneva standards.

When Mr. Bush was asked Friday whether he wasn't in effect seeking sanction for torture, he responded with an evasion. He claimed that the Geneva Conventions' Common Article 3 is "very vague" and that his proposal would provide "clarity" for CIA professionals. In fact, the opposite is true.

Common Article 3, which prohibits cruel treatment and humiliation, is an inflexible standard. The U.S. military, which lived with it comfortably for decades before the Bush administration, just reembraced it after a prolonged battle with the White House. The Army issued a thick manual this month that tells interrogators exactly what they can and cannot do in complying with the standard. The nation's most respected military leaders have said that they need and want nothing more to accomplish the mission of detaining and interrogating enemy prisoners -- and that harsher methods would be counterproductive.

Mr. Bush wants to replace these clear rules with a flexible and subjective standard -- one that would legalize any method that does not "shock the conscience." What shocks the conscience? According to Mr. Bush's Justice Department, the torture techniques described above -- and at least in the past, waterboarding -- do not, "in certain circumstances." So Mr. Bush's real objection to Common Article 3 is not that it is vague. It is that it will not permit abusive practices that he isn't willing publicly to discuss or defend.

Rather than admit that he wants to legalize disappearances and torture, Mr. Bush ominously warns that "the program" won't continue unless Congress passes his bill. He says "time's running out," even though it's not. There are no detainees in the CIA prisons at the moment, according to the president, and the only clock running out is that measuring the midterm election campaign. There is no need for Congress to act in the next two weeks. But if it does, the clear answer to Mr. Bush's question, endorsed by Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), former secretary of state Colin L. Powell and a host of other responsible Republican and military leaders, is "no." For both moral and practical reasons, the country should reject this fundamental violation of its principles. [emphasis added]

Amen. This isn't about increased clarity. Just the opposite. As the editorialists at the Washington Post point out, the Geneva-compliant Army Field Manual spells out detailed, effective, clear interrogation techniques. Bush wants to continue to shroud detainee interrogations in secrecy, the better so he can resort to torture like induced hypothermia, techniques which would make an old KGB man like Vladimir Putin proud.

Meantime, John McCain, a couple days back: "By the way, I forgot to mention this: George Shultz said I could say that he strongly favors our position." Ronald Reagan's Secretary of State has always been a very decent man, and it is nice to see him step up with this statement. Pity Caspar Weinberger (UPDATE: See correction below) and Frank Carlucci, other Reagan-era heavyweights, haven't yet done the same. Finally, note we've now got five former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs standing behind McCain:

Five former chairmen of the joint chiefs of staff have backed efforts by a group of Republican senators opposing President George W. Bush's plan to write rules dealing with the handling of terrorism suspects, one of the senators announced Wednesday.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the five former military leaders have written letters opposing the administration's version on legislation governing the treatment of detainees. Ex-chief Colin Powell, who earlier stated his opposition to the Bush proposal, was joined in that position by former chiefs John Shalikashvili, William Crowe, John Vessey and Henry `Hugh" Shelton, McCain's office said in a statement.

5 Former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs. Senatorial leaders with distinguished military experience like John Warner and John McCain. George Schultz. And I can't help suspecting the President's own father, if he didn't have to stand by his son because of family bonds, would strongly disagree with the Cheney-Addington position too. Meantime I note Bill Kristol has picked up the Standard's pom-poms so as to cheerlead the pro-torture position. Can we safely assume his chances of enjoying a high level policymaking role in a potential McCain Administration have been reduced (see earlier speculation about McCain's key foreign policy advisors here)? Certainly after penning said sad little ditty, one might hope so...

CORRECTION: An important reminder from uber-commenter Zathras re: Caspar Weinberger. Apologies to all for the error, not least Mr. Weinberger's family. I was thinking of leading Reagan era alum, and writing in haste had forgotten that Mr. Weinberger had died last March. My apologies again.

Posted by Gregory at September 21, 2006 03:52 AM