http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051215/ap_on_go_co/congress_detainees
So supposedly it’ll become illegal for people the US government to torture anyone regardless of where on earth they do it. Sadly what may happen is we just allow others to do the torturing for us instead. But it is better than nothing. Damn loopholes.
Actually, on NPR they said that torture has ALWAYS been illegal in the US, it’s cruel, degrading, etc., treatment that is banned by McCain’s legislation. The new Army manual will demonstrate how close to the line you can go. I hope some generals get their asses handed to them over this.
It’s also not a matter that Bush “accepts” the torture ban. He had no fucking choice. The House vote showed that if he stuck it out with his torture techniques, he’d face a surefire veto override. The fucker didn’t “see the light of reason,” he got creamed by Congress, prolly because nobody wanted to campaign against opponents who could use “pro-torture” votes against them. The American public has a lot more sense than its leaders on topics like torture, apparently.
The whole thing leaves me with very little sense of triumph. Why are we even HAVING to make our leaders stop advocating torturing people? Jeebus, we’re back to square one with these fools. It’s like you’ve been charged with training someone to be a diplomat, to deal with the most complex matters of human interaction and communication imaginable, and do it very well. And you’ve just gotten your diplomat to stop pooping his pants in public. Yeah, it’s better that he not poop his pants, but jeebus, do you ever have a long row to hoe …
BTW, this feels more like Great Debates than MPSIMS stuff to me. I’m wondering why you chose to post it here.