Last year the Army Intelligence Center at Ft. Huachuca, Ariz., starting working on a draft for an updated Army Field Manual on interrogation. They wanted to do something to clarify the rules of engagement and prevent another Abu Ghraib. But then John McCain went and got a bill passed that makes the Army Field Manual the uniform standard for all our armed forces and intelligence agencies. So, instead of releasing their report, the Army decided to table it. Why?
The Pentagon has been forced to delay the release of its updated Army Field Manual on interrogation because of congressional opposition to several provisions, including one that would allow tougher techniques for unlawful combatants than for traditional prisoners of war.
The Defense Department’s civilian leaders, who are overseeing the process of rewriting the manual, have long argued — along with the Bush administration — that the Geneva Convention does not apply to terrorists or irregular fighters. The United States needs greater flexibility when interrogating people who refuse to fight by the rules, they have said.
It doesn’t matter what Congress does, this administration will not obey the law. Of course, they say they are obeying the law, but they always use some piece of sophistry to justify themselves.
A measure championed last year by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) banned torture and established the Army Field Manual as the standard for how detainees should be treated governmentwide.
The measure prohibits “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.” The McCain amendment also sets up “uniform standards” for interrogation.
“No person in the custody … of the Department of Defense or under detention in a Department of Defense facility,” the law reads, “shall be subject to any treatment or technique of interrogation not authorized by and listed in the United States Army Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogation.”
But there is a debate over the meaning of the provision. An administration official said Wednesday that nothing in the McCain amendment prohibited treating prisoners of war or unlawful combatants differently.
But a congressional aide said the meaning of the amendment was clear.
“They couldn’t be further from the mark,” the aide said. “The intent of Congress with regards to the McCain amendment was to have a single, uniform standard for all detainees.”
Congress passed a law insisting on a uniform standard and the Army responded by writing a standand that was not uniform. They justify it by saying that nothing in the law prohibits two standards.
Why don’t we officially withdraw from the Geneva Conventions? Let’s also get rid of the Judiciary Committees while we’re at it. Congress should just collect our money and spend it however they see fit. But, there is no point in them worrying about whether or not the Executive Branch is acting constitutionally. It’s a waste of time for them to hold committee meetings about civil rights and liberties.
Or, they could get a spine and impeach Bush and Cheney and go back to being a co-equal branch of government. I wish they would make one choice or the other, because what we are seeing currently is nothing more than a cruel farce.
