Senate defies Bush over terror suspects rules
The Republican-controlled Senate has voted to impose restrictions on how terrorism suspects can be treated, in a rare wartime rebuke to President George Bush.
Defying the White House, senators voted 90-9 to approve an amendment that would ban the use of “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” against anyone in US government custody, regardless of where they were held.
The amendment was added to a £240bn (€353bn) military spending bill for the budget year that began on October 1.
The proposal, sponsored by Arizona Republican senator John McCain, also requires all service members to follow procedures in the Army Field Manual when they detain and interrogate terrorism suspects.
Bush administration officials say the legislation would limit the president’s authority and flexibility in war. But politicians from each party have said Congress must provide US troops with clear standards for detaining, interrogating and prosecuting terrorism suspects in light of allegations of mistreatment at Guantanamo Bay and the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
“We demanded intelligence without ever clearly telling our troops what was permitted and what was forbidden. And when things went wrong, we blamed them and we punished them,” said McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
“Our troops are not served by ambiguity. They are crying out for clarity and Congress cannot shrink from this duty.”
The Senate is expected to vote on the overall spending bill by the end of the week end. The House-approved version of it does not include the detainee provisions. It is unclear how much support the measure has in the Republican-run House of Representatives.
Rep John Murtha of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House appropriations sub-committee on defence, is supporting McCain’s legislation. Murtha could prove a powerful ally when House and Senate negotiators meet to reconcile differences in their bills.
The confrontation by members of the president’s own party shows how reluctant some politicians are to give him unchecked wartime power as the conflict in Iraq drags on and US casualties mount.
It also comes as the president seeks to show strength after weeks in which his approval rating plummeted, with Americans questioning the direction of the war, the sluggish federal response to Hurricane Katrina and the upsurge in petrol prices.
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 behaviour of our soldiers. Such a reaction will help deal with the terrible public diplomacy crisis created by Abu Ghraib,” Powell said in a letter that McCain read on the Senate floor.
Republican supporters say that US troops interrogating terrorism suspects do not know which techniques are allowed.
The White House has said Bush advisers would recommend the president veto the entire bill over the legislation. But a veto is considered highly unlikely given that Bush has never used that power.
Also, scrapping a measure that provides money for pay raises, benefits, equipment and weapons for troops while the country is fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would open the president to a flood of criticism.
