LAST WEEK, President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales all voiced vehement opposition to a measure passed by the Senate that would clarify the country's standards for interrogating detainees and ban the use of "cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment" of prisoners held in custody by the U.S. government.
The measure provides a statement of the United States' commitment to upholding international law regarding the treatment of detainees and clarifies lingering confusion over current military policy regarding interrogation practices. With no independent investigation into what happened at Abu Ghraib being conducted, and given the recent resurgence in reports of prisoner abuse and the lingering confusion over America's standards for the treatment of prisoners, such a measure is clearly needed.
The measure was backed by a Senate vote of 90 to nine; more than two dozen retired senior military officials, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell, voiced support.
Despite overwhelming opposition, the White House released an official statement in opposition to the effort to codify U.S. policy regarding detainee treatment, over concerns that the measure will restrict the president's power as commander-in-chief.
President Bush threatened to veto both the clarification of military standards and the $440 million defense spending bill the measure is attached to if it passes in the House of Representatives.
By finally passing the measure, the Senate is taking a huge step towards repairing the damage done by the images that shocked the world of the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib by redefining the United States' commitment to upholding international standards. The measure also protects U.S. servicemen and women by providing clear guidelines as to the proper treatment of detainees, preventing the confusion that played a role in the horrific abuse of prisoners at both Abu Ghraib and Guatanamo Bay. Since then, there has been very little clarification as to what constitutes official U.S. policy regarding the treatment of detainees.
The measure would limit troops to the techniques authorized in the new Army field manual, banning the dehumanizing and cruel treatment exhibited at Abu Ghraib.
The primary sponsor of the legislation, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., highlighted the need for clear procedural policy. According to the Christian Science Monitor, McCain read the letter of a young Army captain, who fought in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and repeatedly asked for clarification from his chain of command about the rules guiding the treatment of detainees. He got no answers. As was shown at Abu Ghraib and has been reiterated numerous times by military officials, the ongoing debate and lack of standards results in confusion in the field which lends itself to the possibility of abuse. The White House has failed to provide evidence to the contrary.
A new set of troops, members of a battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division, are under investigation for prisoner abuse in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. The New York Times reported that three former members of the division have come forward, admitting that many troops "did not know what techniques were permitted."
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who opposes the measure, told Time Magazine this week in response to the question, "Is the detainee-abuse problem bigger and higher up than we have seen so far?" that there was "some confusion" and "no good guidance" regarding U.S. policy at Abu Ghraib. Since 2002, the White House has taken the stance that suspected terrorists are not entitled to protection under the Geneva Conventions. This has led to confusion about what constitutes appropriate treatment of trainees. The Senate's measure aims to clarify the U.S.'s commitment to upholding the standards of the Geneva Conventions.
Instead of rallying for an independent investigation to find out exactly what went wrong at Abu Ghraib in order to prevent it from happening again, Bush is instead undermining the bipartisan measure to begin to repair the damage. By opposing the measure, the White House is rejecting the opportunity to restore the damage done to the world's view of the United States by Abu Ghraib, affirm America's commitment to international human rights standards and protect U.S. troops by clarifying procedures and standards regarding the treatment of prisoners.
Sophia Brumby's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at sbrumby@cavalierdaily.com.
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