McCain: Bush should veto torture bill
By LIBBY QUAID, Associated Press
Republican presidential candidate John McCain said President Bush should veto a measure that would bar the CIA from using waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects.
McCain voted against the bill, which would restrict the CIA to using only the 19 interrogation techniques listed in the Army field manual.
His vote was controversial because the manual prohibits waterboarding — a simulated drowning technique that McCain also opposes — yet McCain doesn’t want the CIA bound by the manual and its prohibitions.
McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, is well-known for his opposition to waterboarding, which puts him at odds with the Bush administration.
“I knew I would be criticized for it,” McCain told reporters Wednesday in Ohio. “I think I can show my record is clear. I said there should be additional techniques allowed to other agencies of government as long as they were not” torture.
Filed under: Blogroll, Human Rights, news, politics, war | 3 Comments
Tags: CIA, flip-flopping, John McCain, President Bush, torture, waterboarding
This is sadly what happens in DC. Bills are put forward and politicians vote on those bills. The media then spins it however they choose to – normally to cause the most unrest and damage.
McCain voted against a bill that limited the CIA to only those techniques legal under UCMJ, not against a bill that said waterboarding was torture.
see above:
His vote was controversial because the manual prohibits waterboarding.
I recognize what the media jumped on, but that issue isn’t wasn’t what was voted on. McCain has previously stated in no uncertain terms that waterboarding is torture. He voted against a bill that he felt overly limited the CIA that also happened to outlaw waterboarding.
Do you see the difference?
A bill, put forth with good intentions, can still be a bad idea because of how it attempts to address an issue.