"One thing has nothing to do with the other."
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You are mistaken. Even with the current rules the troops can't even defend themselves againt terrorist prisoner attackers. The new law would give them full protection afforded to US citizens with the lawyers and everything, and it's defined in such generalities, that the "detainees" can perceive almost anything "degrading treatment" and our troops will be hauled into US courts for "mistreatment" of the prisoners.
...the United States understands that, in order to constitute torture, an act must be specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering and that mental pain or suffering refers to prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from (1) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering; (2) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality; (3) the threat of imminent death; or (4) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality.
Since we have already been a signatory to this treaty for 18 years I guess I don't know what all of the commotion is about. The prisoners do not get to decide what torture is the United States Senate has already done so.