StrictConstruct

President Bush has pledged to veto the recently passed bill which would require the CIA follow the US Army field manual. The most notable effect of the bill would have been banning the CIA from carrying out waterboarding, a controversial practice which is widely regarded as a form of torture - including, until recently, by the United States Government. After World War Two the United States tried Japanese soldiers that carried out waterboarding on American soldiers for war crimes, a fact which has seemingly passed into the forgotten pages of time.

Though McCain has frequently spoken out against waterboarding as a form of torture, peculiarly he voted against the bill when it went to the Senate, likely a move to try and woo proponents of waterboarding to his side. Regardless of his opposition, the bill passed through both the Senate and House to get to this point. The threat of a veto comes because the President believes that if it was enacted it would limit what we can do to interrogate terrorists - and this is exactly the aim of the bill. It is saying you can interrogate people, but you cannot torture them, which is not only a good limit to place but one mandated by the Constitution.

And if an override attempt is made, it would be interesting to see if McCain still deems it necessary to vote against now that he has, in his mind, secured the nomination. It is not every day that you get to revote on a piece of legislation, and he could very well decide to take a stand against the torture practice this time. I suppose we will just have to wait and see.

(Photo credit to VNH.)