Friday, December 16, 2005 The McCain Bill Doesn't Really Stop Torture The McCain amendement that Bush "agreed" to accept does nothing to stop abuse and torture b/c it leaves the enforcement of the bill up to the WH and denies prisoners habeas corpus rights plus Sen Graham made sure it still allowed Bush's beloved torture. PhillyInquirer: Congress will soon consider 2 amendments that threaten a descent into hypocrisy. Both have been tacked onto the defense authorization bill. A provision by Sen McCain is an unconditional bar on torture - a prospect Bush finds so damaging he has threatened to veto the entire bill. But he won't have to, thanks to a recent amendment by Sen Lindsay Graham (R-SC). This one bars Guantánamo detainees from going to fedrl court to enforce the rights that McCain would declare sacrosanct. The WashPost acknowledges this problem of having "public" rules vs private actions and calls it what it is: un-American hypocrisy. |