White House Tries to Gut Anti-Torture Bill
by TChris
Vice President Cheney, hoping to gut the recently passed (by a 90-9 vote) Senate bill banning torture of detainees, met with the bill's primary sponsor, John McCain, to propose an exception that would permit the CIA to use the prohibited interrogation techniques "with respect to clandestine counterterrorism operations conducted abroad" if "the president determines that such operations are vital to the protection of the United States or its citizens from terrorist attack." McCain said no.
Mr. McCain has kept the pressure on as the issue moves to a House-Senate conference committee, perhaps later this week or next. ... The matter will probably be settled in a private meeting in the next week or two among four senior lawmakers: Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska and Representative C. W. Bill Young of Florida, both Republicans; and Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii and Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, both Democrats. All are on the conference committee.
The White House also opposes a proposal advanced by Sen. Carl Levin to create an independent commission that would review accusations of prisoner abuse by American forces abroad.
< NYT: Tenet Told Cheney Who Told Libby | Sheriff on Trial > |