TPMMuckraker | Talking Points Memo | Reid: Bill Is Opportunity to Condemn Torture

Reid: Bill Is Opportunity to Condemn Torture

By Paul Kiel - February 13, 2008, 5:50PM

Harry Reid:

"The Senate today declared that the Army Field Manual works and torture does not. In sending the President a bill that establishes one interrogation standard for the entire U.S. government, we are taking an important step toward restoring our moral leadership in the world. Military and foreign policy experts agree that torture is counterproductive. It elicits unreliable information, puts U.S. troops at risk and undermines our counterinsurgency efforts.
"It is now up to the President to show his own moral leadership and sign this bill into law. And if he refuses to do so, I hope the Republicans who voted for this bill's passage will stand up to the President and override his veto."

3 Comments

| Leave a comment

"Let me have another chance to condemn you," says little of the consequences the actors reasonably knew they would be subject for engaging in POW abuse: Something more serious than meaningless condemnation, but jail time.

"New standards" of "excellence" for the Members of Congress:

"Torture and POW abuse are illegal, But we'll debate whether we should condemn it.
Forget the original conduct,
Notice whether the condemnation during debate
Is a resounding distraction.

Forget the needed prosecution;
If we condemn the word loudly, no one will notice
We're not enforcing the Geneva Conventions."

Posted by testing
February 13, 2008 8:19 PM | Reply | Permalink

So... what is to stop Bush from issuing an executive order, as C-in-C, amending the AFM to allow torture? "Nothing in the AFM shall be construed... blah, blah, blah ... to restrict the use of enhanced interrogation techniques... blah, blah... as legally ordered through the chain of command... etc."

Of course, this bill will still get a veto, as Bush can't stand to have his "ah-thora-tah" (ala 'Cartman-speak') the least bit questioned.

America has fallen so far from the ideals of my youth...

Posted by Technowitch
February 14, 2008 12:54 AM | Reply | Permalink

That's a typo, right? It should be:

"...we are taking an impotent step..."

You can't "restore" moral leadership (or habeas corpus, or rule of law) by whining. And you can't "override" Rule By Signing Statement.

We've seen this pathetic display time and time again.

There is no "legislating" morality or literally anything else under this monarchical, "unitary," war criminal regime. Just like there is no "redefining" torture. There is only ACTING to stop it or complicity with it.

There is ONLY Impeachment or Impotence.

Failure to impeach is complicity -- approval -- exoneration for the regime.

We allow it at our (continuing) peril.

---

Posted by thedeanpeople
February 14, 2008 1:50 AM | Reply | Permalink