Something he'll never have to worry about.
Posted on 12/19/2005 9:38:38 AM PST by West Coast Conservative
Sen. John McCain, who pushed the White House to support a ban on torture, suggested Sunday that harsh treatment of a terrorism suspect who knew of an imminent attack would not violate international standards.
The Arizona Republican said legislation before Congress would establish in U.S. law the international standard banning any treatment of prisoners that "shocks the conscience."
That would include, McCain said, mock executions and "water boarding," in which a subject is made to think he is drowning.
Asked on ABC's "This Week" whether such treatment of a terrorism suspect who could reveal information that could stop a terrorist operation would shock the conscience, McCain said it would not.
"In that million-to-one situation, then the president of the United States would authorize it and take responsibility for it," McCain said.
"We've gone a long way from having that kind of scenario to having prisons around the world, to the renditions, to the things that have been done which are, in my view, not appropriate," he said.
After months of rejecting a call for anti-torture legislation, President Bush last week accepted McCain's proposal to ban cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of terrorism suspects. Bush had threatened to veto any bill that contained the ban, while maintaining the U.S. did not condone torture.
"You can get into a debate about what shocks the conscience and what is cruel and inhuman, and to some extent, I suppose, that's in the eye of the beholder," Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday in an interview to be broadcast Monday today on ABC News "Nightline."
"But I believe, and we think it's important to remember, that we are in a war against a group of individuals and terrorist organizations that did, in fact, slaughter 3,000 innocent Americans on 9/11, that it's important for us to be able to have effective interrogation of these people when we capture them."
Cheney said he supported the compromise Bush worked out with McCain.
Abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and the U.S. detention center at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, as well as reports of U.S. renditions of prisoners to countries in Europe, called into question claims that torture was neither ordered nor allowed.
The torture McPain endorses is our listening 24/7 to what comes out of his pie hole. Shut Up!
W must have twisted his arm.
It won't violate the ban until the ban reaches the courts and left-wing justices define what torture is and outlaw it.
McLame is a nut job. The guy should be put away for OUR good.
You want torture? How about a 2008 choice between Hellary and McCainiac?
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
This is too cruel. It must be stopped.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1543379/posts
This guy is such an A$$h-hole.
self-o ping-o
Does McCain even understand that the words he writes as law have consequences? First the gobbledygook of the McCain-Feingold debacle, and now this. McCain is a bimbo, a very dangerous one.
I read the amendment. While I'm not impressed and is quite an insulting insinuation that our guys don't do their jobs, I think there are a lot of loopholes in it that can be used to make life for the jihadi losers less than comfortable.
The only standard we need to use in treating terrorits: Never treat them as the pussy hippies want. Never go as far the maggots themselves. Always ensure that whatever is done will be in the benefit of our country.
... or untwisted his panties for him.
"...then the president of the United States would authorize torture and take responsibility for it," McCain said.
In other words, he wrote a law with the unwritten intention that it would be broken, and the person breaking it would not face any legal repercussions.
Sounds a lot like McCain/Fiengold.
In that case, I'll vote thirsd party.
Something he'll never have to worry about.
Any chance of McCain trying to get the nomination in 2008 is gone. Between this and the gang of 14, McCain might be lucky to get reelected.
"W must have twisted his arm."
ha ha... (ouch)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.