Bush Threatens Veto On Anti-Torture Bill

Words in the upcoming Defense Appropriations Bill have appeared to offend the White House, who declared that the bill was in danger of being vetoed over provisions that threaten to regulate the Pentagon's treatment of detainees in the war on terror.

Interestingly enough, this has not yet become a partisan issue. The three authors of the legislation are all prominent Republicans: John McCain, Lindsey Grahm, and John Warner; all members of "the gang of 14", who healed the filibuster debate. Nevertheless, all three senators are known to be mavericks who don't shy away from challenging the President on military issues.

At Mydd, Scott Shields declares that thousands of intelligence experts have decided that torture isn't an effective way of gathering information. While I find the statement hard to believe, ironically, one of the only members of Congress who might have endured the torture that the Bush administration lauds, John McCain, is writing legislation to eliminate it.

It's important to set clear interrogation boundaries, even if they do involve what other countries might define as torture. Investigators should know what they can and cannot do, and although in the past they have, the post 9/11 events of Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib have blurred the definitions.