From AP:
Rumsfeld: Talks Underway on Torture Ban
"WASHINGTON - The White House and senators are discussing the implications of a Senate-passed ban on the torture of suspected terrorists in U.S. custody and what part, if any, of the proposal the administration might find acceptable, the Pentagon chief said Sunday. The Senate's plan would restrict the techniques used to interrogate foreign terrorism suspects and ban "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of anyone in U.S. custody. Those sections have drawn a veto threat from the White House..."
Excuse me, but doesn't torture already violate the law? Whatever tortured (ouch) legalistic loopholes the administration has tried to create are bogus.
Here's the money quote, though:
"The Senate measure also would require U.S. troops to follow interrogation procedures in the Army Field Manual."
Well, since the freakin'
commander-in-chief won't make them enforce their own rules, I guess the Senate needs to.
The reason the Senate is doing this is because the Republican majority would never allow what should really be done: A real investigation of the Defense Dept., CIA, and the Armed Services regarding torture, prisoner abuse, and human rights violations. If this were to be done, it would likely be discovered that many existing laws have already been broken, and not just by low level scapegoats.
Since they won't do this, they'll do what lawmakers do: add another layer of law to obscure the fact that existing laws aren't being enforced.