Senate sets standards on detainees / Lawmakers defy Bush to overwhelmingly OK McCain bill in response to Abu Ghraib
Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times
Oct. 6, 2005 Updated: Jan. 18, 2012 3:58 a.m.
2005-10-06 04:00:00 PDT Washington -- In a break with the White House, the Republican-controlled Senate overwhelmingly approved a measure Wednesday that would set standards for the military's treatment of detainees, a response to the Abu Ghraib scandal and other allegations that U.S. soldiers have abused prisoners.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a victim of torture while a prisoner during the Vietnam War, won approval of the measure that would make interrogation techniques outlined in the Army Field Manual the standard for handling detainees in Defense Department custody and prohibit "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of U.S.-held prisoners.
The White House has threatened to veto the $440 billion military spending bill to which the measure was attached, and Vice President Dick Cheney has lobbied to defeat the detainee measure. White House spokesman Scott McClellan objected that the measure would "limit the president's ability as commander-in-chief to effectively carry out the war on terrorism."
But McCain struck an emotional chord with his colleagues as he recalled his more than five years in a POW camp.
"Our enemies didn't adhere to the Geneva Conventions," he said, referring to the international agreement on the treatment of prisoners of war. "Many of my comrades were subjected to very cruel, very inhumane and degrading treatment, a few of them even unto death.
"But every one of us -- every single one of us -- knew and took great strength from the belief that we were different from our enemies, that we were better than them, that we, if the roles were reversed, would not disgrace ourselves by committing or countenancing such mistreatment of them."
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a retired four-star Army general, endorsed McCain's effort.
"The world will note that America is making a clear statement with respect to the expected future behavior of our soldiers," Powell said in a letter that McCain read on the Senate floor. "Such a reaction will help deal with the terrible public diplomacy crisis created by Abu Ghraib."
All but nine of the Senate's 55 Republicans joined 43 Democrats and one independent in supporting the measure.
The Senate was expected to vote on the overall spending bill by week's end. The House-approved version of it does not include the detainee provisions. It is unclear how much support the measure has in the GOP-run House.
However, Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense, is supporting McCain's legislation. Murtha could prove a powerful ally when House and Senate negotiators meet to reconcile differences in their bills.
The measure was offered in response to the photographs of abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison outside of Baghdad that caused an international furor last year. New allegations of mistreatment of detainees have surfaced recently.
McCain said that the Abu Ghraib scandal and continuing allegations of prisoner abuse were "harming our image in the world, terribly."
He added that ambiguity on prisoner treatment could lead to mistreatment of captured American soldiers. "Confusion about the rules results in abuses in the field," he said.
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who opposed McCain's proposal, said, "This is a different war now. ... We're in a war against terrorists, and I don't think they're entitled to the same type of treatment that we give to prisoners of war."
Human rights groups cheered the Senate vote.
The military generally employs the Army Field Manual but has deviated from it at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and elsewhere, using interrogation techniques such as sleep deprivation and other methods to wear down detainees' resistance.
Cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment is outlawed under Geneva Conventions and other international laws, but congressional legislation would make it tougher to get around restrictions.
The administration has asserted that al Qaeda prisoners are not entitled to Geneva protections because they are not lawful combatants, although the White House has said such prisoners should be treated as if the Geneva Conventions apply.