"To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing,
if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Bush just got worked by the Senate.

The Republican-controlled Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to impose restrictions on the treatment of terrorism suspects, delivering a rare wartime rebuke to President Bush.

Defying the White House, senators voted 90-9 to approve an amendment that would prohibit the use of “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” against anyone in U.S. government custody, regardless of where they are held.

The amendment was added to a $440 billion military spending bill for the budget year that began Oct. 1.

The proposal, sponsored by Sen. John McCain, also requires all service members to follow procedures in the Army Field Manual when they detain and interrogate terrorism suspects.

Bush administration officials say the legislation would limit the president’s authority and flexibility in war.

But lawmakers from each party have said Congress must provide U.S. troops with clear standards for detaining, interrogating and prosecuting terrorism suspects in light of allegations of mistreatment at Guantanamo Bay and the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

“We demanded intelligence without ever clearly telling our troops what was permitted and what was forbidden. And when things went wrong, we blamed them and we punished them,” said McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

“Our troops are not served by ambiguity. They are crying out for clarity and Congress cannot shrink from this duty,” said McCain, R-Ariz.

Hell yes.  Our troops deserve better than being set up as a patsy for generals and DoD civilian executives.  Also note the overwhelming vote.  This is an astonishing rebuke of Bush by a GOP-dominated Senate.  (So much for that political capital, eh, Georgie?) Now it remains to see what the House does, and whether or not they can work out a compromise with the Senate.  Look for a full court press from the White House.  The amendment is part of the defense appropriations bill, so the only way Bush could avoid the amendment is to veto the entire bill, and I don’t think he’s got the balls for it, so they’re going to work like hell to make sure the amendment isn’t in the final bill by getting it nixed in the House. 

Let the battle begin.  No matter what happens this is good news for our soldiers, especially the junior enlisted.