SOS
12-08-2005, 12:59 PM
McCain's efforts to outlaw torture resisted by former Hanoi cellmate (http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20051207/1062759.asp)
As an abused POW, Sen. John McCain knows what torture is. But so does a maimed Texas congressman who is afraid that McCain's bid to ban it will only aid the nation's enemies.
WASHINGTON - With the moral authority of a former prisoner of war, Sen. John McCain is pushing to ban torture. Now, one of his former cellmates in the Hanoi Hilton, Rep. Sam Johnson - whose mangled hand gives testament to the horrors he endured after being shot down in Vietnam - is working to block the measure.
Johnson, a Texas Republican, has circulated a letter to colleagues arguing that the McCain proposal, which sailed through the Senate, 90-9, would needlessly hamper counterterrorism efforts - a stance that has surprised human rights advocates.
"I can't imagine what he's thinking," said Mark Ensalaco, director of the international studies and human rights program at the University of Dayton.
"America should never do to anyone, even our worst enemies, what the Vietnamese did to John McCain and Sam Johnson," said Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director of Human Rights Watch.
Johnson defended his position Tuesday, after avoiding requests for two weeks to explain his views on the McCain proposal, which he called "well-intentioned but unnecessary" and potentially dangerous.
"I feel very strongly about this because I know what torture is. Torture is already against the law, and John's proposal doesn't make it any more illegal," said Johnson, who spent seven years as a POW and left the service with two Silver Stars, a Distinguished Flying Cross, a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.
He argued that federal law already bans torture and the proposed language - which also rules out cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of foreign prisoners - would arm enemy fighters with tips for withstanding interrogation.
"I'm afraid John's proposal will drastically diminish our ability to gather intelligence," he said.
The Bush administration has been fighting efforts to write a blanket torture ban into U.S. law, but top House Republicans say they are closing in on language they will add to a pending defense bill.
Johnson denied that anyone in the Bush administration had asked or encouraged him to oppose the McCain amendment, though, as a fellow POW, his position would give political cover to like-minded lawmakers.
McCain, an Arizona Republican, did not respond to requests seeking comment. Although he and Johnson are from the same party, their politics have often diverged. The senator is a former rival and sometime critic of President Bush, while Johnson has been one of the president's most reliable allies.
During Senate debate on McCain's measure in October, Vice President Cheney and CIA Director Porter J. Goss sought, unsuccessfully, to exempt the CIA from the provision.
Bush and other top officials contend that the United States does not torture prisoners, nor send them to other countries to be tortured. But he has threatened to veto legislation that contains the ban, arguing that it could hamper interrogators.
In a speech Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States conforms to the Convention Against Torture, which bans cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
Existing U.S. law requires that the government abide by both the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture.
Human rights advocates note that the Bush administration has also argued in the past that the ban on cruel and inhumane treatment does not apply to interrogations of non-U.S. citizens that take place outside this country. And they accuse the Bush administration of applying an overly narrow definition of "torture."
"It's public knowledge that the CIA has used "waterboarding,' mock executions, extended sleep deprivations and other forms of severe mistreatment of detainees," Malinowski said.
McCain says he will not back down, although he and national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley said on Sunday talk shows that they were working on finding a compromise.
Johnson recently circulated a letter urging key members of the House Armed Services Committee to reject the McCain amendment, as reported first by the Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress. In the letter, Johnson says interrogators need flexibility to be effective - a stance the human rights advocates took as a euphemism for the option to torture.
The McCain amendment, which seeks to clarify and broaden what constitutes torture, would prohibit torture of suspected terrorists and limit interrogations to techniques set out in the Army Field Manual. It would apply to prisoners in U.S. custody, regardless of whether they are American or held on U.S. soil.
The Democrats have Zen Miller...
As an abused POW, Sen. John McCain knows what torture is. But so does a maimed Texas congressman who is afraid that McCain's bid to ban it will only aid the nation's enemies.
WASHINGTON - With the moral authority of a former prisoner of war, Sen. John McCain is pushing to ban torture. Now, one of his former cellmates in the Hanoi Hilton, Rep. Sam Johnson - whose mangled hand gives testament to the horrors he endured after being shot down in Vietnam - is working to block the measure.
Johnson, a Texas Republican, has circulated a letter to colleagues arguing that the McCain proposal, which sailed through the Senate, 90-9, would needlessly hamper counterterrorism efforts - a stance that has surprised human rights advocates.
"I can't imagine what he's thinking," said Mark Ensalaco, director of the international studies and human rights program at the University of Dayton.
"America should never do to anyone, even our worst enemies, what the Vietnamese did to John McCain and Sam Johnson," said Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director of Human Rights Watch.
Johnson defended his position Tuesday, after avoiding requests for two weeks to explain his views on the McCain proposal, which he called "well-intentioned but unnecessary" and potentially dangerous.
"I feel very strongly about this because I know what torture is. Torture is already against the law, and John's proposal doesn't make it any more illegal," said Johnson, who spent seven years as a POW and left the service with two Silver Stars, a Distinguished Flying Cross, a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.
He argued that federal law already bans torture and the proposed language - which also rules out cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of foreign prisoners - would arm enemy fighters with tips for withstanding interrogation.
"I'm afraid John's proposal will drastically diminish our ability to gather intelligence," he said.
The Bush administration has been fighting efforts to write a blanket torture ban into U.S. law, but top House Republicans say they are closing in on language they will add to a pending defense bill.
Johnson denied that anyone in the Bush administration had asked or encouraged him to oppose the McCain amendment, though, as a fellow POW, his position would give political cover to like-minded lawmakers.
McCain, an Arizona Republican, did not respond to requests seeking comment. Although he and Johnson are from the same party, their politics have often diverged. The senator is a former rival and sometime critic of President Bush, while Johnson has been one of the president's most reliable allies.
During Senate debate on McCain's measure in October, Vice President Cheney and CIA Director Porter J. Goss sought, unsuccessfully, to exempt the CIA from the provision.
Bush and other top officials contend that the United States does not torture prisoners, nor send them to other countries to be tortured. But he has threatened to veto legislation that contains the ban, arguing that it could hamper interrogators.
In a speech Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States conforms to the Convention Against Torture, which bans cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
Existing U.S. law requires that the government abide by both the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture.
Human rights advocates note that the Bush administration has also argued in the past that the ban on cruel and inhumane treatment does not apply to interrogations of non-U.S. citizens that take place outside this country. And they accuse the Bush administration of applying an overly narrow definition of "torture."
"It's public knowledge that the CIA has used "waterboarding,' mock executions, extended sleep deprivations and other forms of severe mistreatment of detainees," Malinowski said.
McCain says he will not back down, although he and national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley said on Sunday talk shows that they were working on finding a compromise.
Johnson recently circulated a letter urging key members of the House Armed Services Committee to reject the McCain amendment, as reported first by the Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress. In the letter, Johnson says interrogators need flexibility to be effective - a stance the human rights advocates took as a euphemism for the option to torture.
The McCain amendment, which seeks to clarify and broaden what constitutes torture, would prohibit torture of suspected terrorists and limit interrogations to techniques set out in the Army Field Manual. It would apply to prisoners in U.S. custody, regardless of whether they are American or held on U.S. soil.
The Democrats have Zen Miller...