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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Senate calls for interrogation limits


McCain
 (The Spokesman-Review)
Charles Babington and Shailagh Murray Washington Post

WASHINGTON – The Senate defied the White House on Wednesday and voted to set new limits on interrogating detainees in Iraq and elsewhere, underscoring Congress’s growing concerns about reports of abuse of suspected terrorists and others in military custody.

Forty-six Republicans joined 43 Democrats and one independent in voting to define and limit interrogation techniques that U.S. troops may use against terrorism suspects, the latest sign that alarm over treatment of prisoners in the Middle East and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is widespread in both parties. The White House had fought to prevent the restrictions, with Vice President Dick Cheney visiting key Republicans in July and a spokesman Wednesday repeating President Bush’s threat to veto the larger bill that the language is now attached to – a $440 billion military spending measure.

Senate GOP leaders had managed to fend off the detainee language this summer, saying the Congress should not constrain the executive branch’s options. But Wednesday night, 89 senators sided with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a former prisoner of war in Vietnam who led the fight for the interrogation restrictions. McCain said military officers have implored Congress for guidelines, adding that he mourns “what we lose when by official policy or by official negligence we allow, confuse or encourage our soldiers to forget … that which is our greatest strength: that we are different and better than our enemies.”

The vote came hours after Senate Democratic leaders blasted Republicans for canceling a classified briefing on anti-terrorism matters by the director of national intelligence, John Negroponte. Senate Democrats also sent Bush a letter demanding more information about how he intends to succeed in Iraq.

The president plans to deliver “a significant speech on the war on terrorism” today, spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.

The Senate’s 90 to 9 vote suggested a new boldness among Republicans to challenge the White House on war policy. The amendment by McCain, one of Bush’s most significant backers at the outset of the Iraq war, would establish uniform standards for the interrogation of people detained by U.S. military personnel, prohibiting “cruel, inhuman or degrading” treatment while they are in U.S. custody.

McCain’s allies included Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a former military lawyer, and Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va. They said new detainee standards are needed to clear up confusion among U.S. troops that may have led to the mistreatment alleged at the Navy’s Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba and the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

The military came under condemnation throughout the world two years ago upon the release of photos showing U.S. troops humiliating and terrifying inmates at Abu Ghraib. Some low-ranking soldiers have been sentenced to prison for the abuse, but many lawmakers and others said they continue to worry about tactics that border on torture in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay.

In his closing speech, McCain said terrorists “hold in contempt” international conventions “such as the Geneva Conventions and the treaty on torture.”

“I know that,” he said. “But we’re better than them, and we are the stronger for our faith.”

In its statement on the veto threat, the White House said the measure would “restrict the president’s authority to protect Americans effectively from terrorist attack and bringing terrorists to justice.”