WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday voted 15-9 to recommend a bill -- over the objections of the Bush administration -- that would authorize tribunals for terror suspects in a way that it says would protect suspects' rights.
The bill was backed by Republican Sens. John Warner of Virginia, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Sen Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
It differs from the administration's proposal in two major ways: It would permit terror suspects to view classified evidence against them and does not include a proposal that critics say reinterprets a Geneva Conventions rule that prohibits cruel and inhuman treatment of detainees.
In a decision earlier this summer, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration must meet Article 3 standards in its treatment of detainees.
Article 3 prohibits nations engaged in combat not of "an international character" from, among other things, "violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture" and "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment."
Now this little act of rebellion by the Senate Armed Services Committee forced an angry President Bush to come out against the Senate in a special White House press conference. But I've already talked about that in a previous post here.
But there is an interesting detail regarding former Secretary of State Colin Powell. It would appear that Powell supports the Senate provisions regarding the military tribunals:
But critics, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell and top Republican senators, oppose reinterpretation of the Geneva Conventions rule.
Powell expressed his opposition in a letter to McCain that was released Thursday.
Warner, Graham, and McCain, a former Vietnam POW -- along with Powell -- oppose any changes to the U.S. interpretation of Article 3, arguing that it could adversely affect enemies' treatment of captured U.S. service members.
"The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism," Powell, a retired Army four-star general, wrote in his letter to McCain, whose amendment last year opposed the use of torture. (Read Powell's letter)
"To redefine Common Article 3 would add to those doubts," Powell said. "Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk."
Here is Powell's letter to Senator McCain. Powell has broken his silence and has come out in complete opposition of the Bush administration's attempts to redefine the Geneva Conventions, thus allowing the United States to perform torture sessions against terrorist suspects. Powell states that if the Bush administration goes ahead with their own definitions of the Geneva conventions, then you can bet that other countries will apply their own definitions to the conventions--and torture will pretty much be allowed. And U.S. troops will be exposed to such torture sessions.
Well, this has placed President Bush into a real dizzy of a tizzy. Here's the Washington Post's story on the Bush press conference:
Bush bristled at the criticism from his former top diplomat yesterday, calling it "flawed logic" and accusing Powell of equating U.S. tactics with those of terrorists, even though Powell's letter made no such comparison. "It's unacceptable to think that there's any kind of comparison between the behavior of the United States of America and the action of Islamic extremists who kill innocent women and children," Bush said.
He likewise rejected the argument that nations such as Iran and North Korea would cite U.S. precedent in reinterpreting Geneva rules. "If the nations such as those you named adopted the standards within the Detainee Detention Act," Bush said, meaning the model for his preferred legislation, "the world would be better."
And now here's the Bush quote rejecting both McCain's and Powell's criticism. From The New York Times story on the Bush press conference:
Mr. Bush rejected the crux of Mr. McCain’s argument when a reporter asked him how he would react if nations like Iran or North Korea “roughed up” American soldiers under the guise of their own interpretations of Common Article 3.
“You can give a hypothetical about North Korea or any other country,” Mr. Bush said, casting the question as steeped in moral relativism. “The point is that the program is not going to go forward if our professionals do not have clarity in the law.”
He also discounted an argument made in a letter from Mr. Powell that his plan would encourage the world to “doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism.”
Asked about that analysis, Mr. Bush said, “If there’s any comparison between the compassion and decency of the American people and the terrorist tactics of extremists, it’s flawed logic.”
First, what is so amazing is how Bush can't understand the hypothetical question here. If the United States adopts its own standards regarding the Geneva Conventions, then you can bet that North Korea will adopt their own standards on the conventions. President Bush believes that nations should have the right to define the Geneva Conventions according to the U.S. standards as defined by the Bush administration's Detainee Detention Act--in other words, by the U.S. standards as defined by President Bush. But the other nations of the world are not going to define the Geneva Conventions according to President Bush's definition--they will choose their own standards. The world will not be a better place.
Now the Powell criticism. President Bush responded to Powell's criticism with this quote "If there’s any comparison between the compassion and decency of the American people and the terrorist tactics of extremists, it’s flawed logic." Unfortunately, it is the president who has flawed logic. Powell never compared the compassion and decency of the American people with the terrorist tactics of extremists here. Powell criticized the Bush administration for using extreme tactics of torture on terror suspects, saying that the Bush administration's policies are causing the world to "doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism." The Bush administration is responsible for the world's turning against the United States--NOT the American people. What President Bush is trying to do is to combine the morality of American people with his own administration in comparing the United States with "terrorist tactics of extremists." That is flawed logic on the president's part. What is even more ironic is that the President Bush doesn't have the support of the American people. According to this September 2006 CNN poll story:
(CNN) -- President Bush's unpopularity -- due largely to the war in Iraq -- seems likely to affect GOP candidates in congressional midterm elections in November, according to a CNN poll released Wednesday.
Fifty-five percent of 1,004 Americans said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who has supported Bush administration policies, according to the poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation on behalf of CNN. Forty percent said they would be more likely.
The war in Iraq appears to be a main factor in Republican opposition, poll results show. Fifty-eight percent of poll respondents said they are opposed to the war, compared with 39 percent who approve of it.
Sixty-two percent said they believe no one is winning the war; 25 percent said the United States is winning and 12 percent said the insurgents are winning.
Asked whether the Iraq war is part of the U.S.-led war on terror, 53 percent said they believe it is a separate action, while 45 percent said they believe it is connected, as the Bush administration has repeatedly insisted.
And now here is an April 2006 CNN story on Bush's poll numbers:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's approval ratings have sunk to a personal low, with only a third of Americans saying they approve of the way he is handling his job, a national poll released Monday said.
In the telephone poll of 1,012 adult Americans carried out Friday through Sunday by Opinion Research Corporation for CNN, 32 percent of respondents said they approve of Bush's performance, 60 percent said they disapprove and 8 percent said they do not know.
That's a significant drop from the way Americans perceived the president a year ago. In a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll carried out April 29-May 1, 2005, Americans were split on their assessments of Bush's performance, with 48 percent saying they approved and 49 percent saying they disapproved.
President Bush has divided the country here, with an increasing majority of the public opposing his policies. And yet the only way for Bush to respond to Powell's criticisms is to apply this "flawed logic" of claiming the American people support his administration's war on terror.
There is one more little detail I have to comment on regarding this rebellion. This is off the New York Times story on the Bush press conference:
Although he declared his eagerness to work with Congress, Mr. Bush raised his voice several times and poked the air with his index fingers for emphasis.
“There’s a debate about the specific provisions in my bill, and we’ll work with Congress to continue to try to find common ground,” Mr. Bush said. “I have one test for this legislation. I’m going to ask one question as this legislation proceeds, and it’s this. The intelligence community must be able to tell me that the bill Congress sends to my desk will allow this vital program to continue.”
This is just incredible. Whatever anti-terror bill Congress creates must be approved by the intelligence community? Congress has to get its bill rubber-stamped by the intelligence community, whose civilian leaders have been chosen by the Bush White House? Talk about President Bush's arrogance here. Congress drafts the legislation that the intelligence community must abide by. Now the intelligence community can provide recommendations and advice to Congress when Congress is creating the legislation, but whatever legislation is passed by Congress (and signed into law by the president), then the intelligence community must abide by the laws. That is the way the system works. President Bush wants the system to work backwards, where the intelligence community--under the Bush administration's supervision--tells Congress what legislation to draft. Incredible.
There will probably be more to come on this rebellion next week. Stay tuned.
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