John McCain wants to do the right thing
It has been my belief for quite some time that if one starts behaving like the enemy then one is no different from the enemy. Senator John McCain believes so, too. He has proposed an amendment to some pending legislation that would ensure this. "The McCain amendment would make the Army Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogations binding interrogation policy for all those in military custody, and would reinforce the ban on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees, which the Administration now asserts does not apply to U.S. actions abroad," (source).
"Despite a veto threat from the White House, McCain led--yes, led--the Senate to a 90-to-9 vote in favor of setting humane limits on the interrogation of detainees in Iraq and elsewhere" (source). The nine senators who seem to want unregulated torture to continue are:
Wayne Allard (R-CO)Clearly these all-male bastions of the Republican party are in the minority as an impressive list of high-ranking retired members of the U.S. Armed forces back McCain in a open letter published 05 October 2005 (source). Some, like McCain, have been on the receiving end of torture at the hands of enemy combatants. These are people who should know. These are the people the president should be listening to as he makes his decision.
Christopher Bond (R-MO)
Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
James Inhofe (R-OK)
Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Ted Stevens (R-AK)
(source)
